Cryptonanus ignitus

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	DIDELPHIMORPHIA	DIDELPHIDAE

Scientific Name:	Cryptonanus ignitus
Species Authority:	(Díaz, Flores & Barquez, 2002)
Common Name/s: English – Red-bellied Gracile Mouse Opossum, Red-bellied Gracile Opossum Spanish – Comadrejita De Vientre Rojo
Synonym/s:	Gracilinanus ignitus Díaz, Flores & Barquez, 2002
Taxonomic Notes:	Díaz et al. (2002) described Gracilinanus ignitus as a new species. Voss et al. (2005) described a new genus, Cryptonanus, and transferred G. ignitus to this new genus.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Extinct     ver 3.1
Year Published:	2008
Assessor/s:	Diaz M. & Barquez, R.
Reviewer/s:	Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)
Justification: Listed as Extinct because it has not been recorded since the year 1962, the entire area where the type specimen was collected has been converted to agriculture and industry and extensive searches over the last 44 years have failed to locate this species.
History:	2003 – Not Evaluated (IUCN 2003)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species was known only from the type locality in Jujuy, Argentina. Type locality - Argentina, Jujuy, "Yuto" (Gardner, 2007, Díaz et al. 2002).
Countries:	Regionally extinct: Argentina (Jujuy)
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:

This species has not been seen since 1962. Even as was is being described as a new species, it is difficult to know if it still exists in the region (Díaz et al. 2002). After numerous searched to the regions where it was knonw to occur - no individuals have been located (Diaz, M. pers. comm), the forest habitat was destroyed and the species is presumed to be extinct.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The originlal type specimen was collected when theregion was less disturbed by agricultural development. Nothing is known about the natural history of this species (Díaz et al. 2002).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):

The major threats to this species which are presumed to have driven it to extinction are human impact of agricultural and technological development, cattle ranching, and indiscriminate deforestation (Díaz et al. 2002).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:

This species is presumed to be extinct.

Bibliography [top]

Diaz, M. M., Flores, D. A. and Barquez, R. M. 2002. A new species of gracile mouse opossum, genus Gracilinanus (Didelphimorpia: Didelphidae), from Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy 83: 824-833. Gardner, A. L. 2007. Order Didelphimorphia. In: A. L. Gardner (ed.), Mammals of South America, pp. 669. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA.