Drymoreomys

Drymoreomys
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Genus:	Drymoreomys Percequillo, Weksler, and Costa, 2011
Species:	D. albimaculatus
Binomial name
Drymoreomys albimaculatus Percequillo, Weksler, and Costa, 2011
Collection localities of Drymoreomys albimaculatus

Drymoreomys is a rodent genus in the tribe Oryzomyini that lives in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. The single species, D. albimaculatus, is known only from the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina and was not named until 2011. It lives in the humid forest on the eastern slopes of the Serra do Mar and perhaps reproduces year-round. Although its range is relatively large and includes some protected areas, it is patchy and threatened, and the discoverers recommend that the animal be considered "Near Threatened" on the IUCN Red List. Within Oryzomyini, Drymoreomys appears to be most closely related to Eremoryzomys from the Andes of Peru, a biogeographically unusual relationship, in that the two populations are widely separated and each is adapted to an arid or a moist environment.

With a body mass of 44–64 g (1.6–2.3 oz), Drymoreomys is a medium-sized rodent with long fur that is orange to reddish-buff above and grayish with several white patches below. The pads on the hindfeet are very well developed and there is brown fur on the upper sides of the feet. The tail is brown above and below. The front part of the skull is relatively long and the ridges on the braincase are weak. The palate is short, with its back margin between the third molars. Several traits of the genitals are not seen in any other oryzomyine rodent.

Drymoreomys was first recorded in 1992 by Meika Mustrangi in the state of São Paulo. The animal was not, however, formally described until 2011, when Alexandre Percequillo and colleagues named it as a new genus and species within the tribe Oryzomyini: Drymoreomys albimaculatus. The generic name, Drymoreomys, combines the Greek δρυμός (drymos), meaning "forest", ὄρειος (oreios), meaning "mountain-dwelling", and μῦς (mys), meaning "mouse". The name refers to the animal's occurrence in mountain forest. The specific name, albimaculatus, derives from the Latin albus, meaning "white", and maculatus, meaning "spotted", a reference to the spots of white in the animal's fur. Percequillo and colleagues found little geographic variation among samples of Drymoreomys, although a few traits differ in frequency between populations from the states of São Paulo and Santa Catarina.

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