Irenomys
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Irenomys Temporal range: Recent |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Subfamily: | Sigmodontinae |
| Genus: |
Irenomys Thomas, 1919 |
| Species: | I. tarsalis |
| Binomial name | |
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Irenomys tarsalis (Philippi, 1900) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Mus tarsalis Philippi, 1900 |
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Mus tarsalis Philippi, 1900
Reithrodon longicaudatus Philippi, 1900
Irenomys longicaudatus: Thomas, 1919
Irenomys tarsalis: Osgood, 1943
Irenomys tarsalis, also known as the Chilean climbing mouse,Chilean tree mouse, or long-footed irenomys, is a rodent found in Chile, from about 36° to 46°S, and in adjacent Argentina, mainly in forests. It is a large, long-tailed, soft-furred mouse characterized by grooved upper incisors and specialized molars with transverse ridges, divided by deep valleys, which are connected by a transverse ridge along the midline of the molars.
I. tarsalis is a docile, herbivorous animal that lives in trees. It is so distinct from other species that it was placed in its own genus, Irenomys, in 1919. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (iren) meaning "peace", in reference to the end of World War I. Although it has been generally placed in the tribe Phyllotini, genetic evidence does not support any close relationships with other genera, so that it is now classified as a member of the subfamily Sigmodontinae incertae sedis (of uncertain position).
In 1900, Rodolfo Armando Philippi named both Mus tarsalis (from Valdivia Province in mainland Chile) and Reithrodon longicaudatus (from a small island near Chiloé), both of which are now classified as Irenomys tarsalis. Philippi's Reithrodon longicaudatus was transferred into a new genus, Irenomys, by Oldfield Thomas in February 1919. The name, which means "peace mouse" in Greek, referred to the end of World War I four months before. Another of the species Philippi described in 1900, Mus mochae, was later transferred to Irenomys because of a mismatch between the skin and skull, but it is in fact a member of the genus Abrothrix and not closely related to Irenomys. In his 1943 work on The mammals of Chile, Wilfred Hudson Osgood recognized the close relation between Philippi's Mus tarsalis and Reithrodon longicaudatus and referred them to a single species, then called Irenomys tarsalis. Osgood retained two subspecies, Irenomys tarsalis tarsalis on the mainland and Irenomys tarsalis longicaudatus on Chiloé and nearby islands, on the basis of slight differences in pelage coloration. In the few mature specimens of the latter subspecies that Osgood had, the underparts are somewhat lighter than in examples of I. t. tarsalis, which has a pinkish color in the underparts, but Osgood stressed that further material could well indicate that the two forms could not be distinguished.
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