Oryzomys nelsoni
| Oryzomys nelsoni | |
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| Skull of Oryzomys nelsoni, seen from above. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | Oryzomys |
| Species: | O. nelsoni |
| Binomial name | |
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Oryzomys nelsoni Merriam, 1898 |
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| Distribution of Oryzomys nelsoni (orange) and other western Mexican Oryzomys. | |
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Oryzomys nelsoni is an extinct rodent of María Madre Island, Nayarit, Mexico. Within the genus Oryzomys of the family Cricetidae, it may have been most closely related to the mainland species O. albiventer. Since its first description in 1898, most authors have regarded it as a distinct species, but it has also been classified as a mere subspecies of the marsh rice rat (O. palustris).
After its discovery in 1897, it has never been recorded again and it is now considered extinct; the presence of introduced black rats on María Madre may have contributed to its extinction. Oryzomys nelsoni was a large species, distinguished in particular by its long tail, robust skull, and large incisors. It was reddish to yellowish above and mostly white below. Its diet may have included plant material and small animals.
Oryzomys nelsoni was collected by Edward William Nelson and Edward Goldman in May 1897 and never found again. Their visit for the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture was one of the first scientific explorations of the islands.Clinton Hart Merriam identified the mammals they obtained, including four specimens of Oryzomys nelsoni, which were deposited in the United States National Museum and remain there. He named it as a species of the genus Oryzomys, Oryzomys nelsoni; the specific name honors Nelson. Investigators have generally retained it as a species distinct from other Oryzomys, but in 1971 Hershkovitz listed it as one of many subspecies of Oryzomys palustris, which he envisaged as a wide-ranging species encompassing what is now the marsh rice rat (O. palustris) of the southern and eastern United States, O. couesi of Central America, and several other species with more limited distributions.
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