Abrocoma cinerea

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	RODENTIA	ABROCOMIDAE

Scientific Name:

Abrocoma cinerea

Species Authority:

Thomas, 1919

Common Name/s:

English

–

Ashy Chinchilla Rat

Taxonomic Notes:

Ellerman (1940) included Abrocoma budini, A. famatina, A. schistacea, and A. vaccarum as subspecies of A. cinerea, but Braun and Mares (2002) recognized each as a distinct species.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s:

Dunnum, J., Bernal, N., Vivar, E., Jayat, J. & Ojeda, R.

Reviewer/s:

Amori, G. (Small Nonvolant Mammal Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
This species is listed as Least Concern because of its wide distribution, presumed large population, occurrence in a number of protected areas, tolerance to some degree of habitat modification, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is restricted to the high elevations of southeastern Peru, southwestern Bolivia, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina (Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán provinces) (Woods and Kilpatrick 2005). It is found from 3,850 to 5,000 m asl.
Countries:	Native: Argentina; Bolivia; Chile; Peru
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	The population is stable and the species is locally common.
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species occurs in hilly, arid, Altiplano habitat at over 3,800 m asl. It inhabits rocky terrain, building burrows in shale outcrops and at the bases of shrubs (Braun and Mares, 2002). It is found in both undisturbed and disturbed areas, and readily inhabits man made stone walls. It is a strict herbivore (Cortes et al., 2002) and predominantly feeds on Thola spp. and Yareta spp. (N. Bernal pers. comm.).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

This species occurs in hilly, arid, Altiplano habitat at over 3,800 m asl. It inhabits rocky terrain, building burrows in shale outcrops and at the bases of shrubs (Braun and Mares, 2002). It is found in both undisturbed and disturbed areas, and readily inhabits man made stone walls. It is a strict herbivore (Cortes et al., 2002) and predominantly feeds on Thola spp. and Yareta spp. (N. Bernal pers. comm.).

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats to this species. In the past there was some commercial collection of this species for fur.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats to this species. In the past there was some commercial collection of this species for fur.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	It occurs in at least ten protected areas in Bolivia, including Los Andes and Pozuelo. These protected areas encompass much of its highland range.

Conservation Actions:

It occurs in at least ten protected areas in Bolivia, including Los Andes and Pozuelo. These protected areas encompass much of its highland range.

Bibliography [top]

	Braun, J. K. and Mares, M. A. 2002. Systematics of the Abrocoma cinerea species complex (Rodentia: Abrocomidae), with a description of a new species of Abrocoma. Journal of Mammalogy 83(1): 1-19. Cortes, A., Rau, J. R., Miranda, E. and Jimenez, J. E. 2002. Habitos alimenticios de Lagidium viscacia y Abrocoma cinerea: roedores sintopicos en ambientes altoandinos del norte de Chile. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75: 583-593. Ellerman, J. R. 1940. Families and genera of living rodents. Rodents other than Muridae. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom 1: 1-689. Woods, C. A. and Kilpatrick, C. W. 2005. Infraorder Hystricognathi. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World, pp. 1538-1599. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Braun, J. K. and Mares, M. A. 2002. Systematics of the Abrocoma cinerea species complex (Rodentia: Abrocomidae), with a description of a new species of Abrocoma. Journal of Mammalogy 83(1): 1-19.

Cortes, A., Rau, J. R., Miranda, E. and Jimenez, J. E. 2002. Habitos alimenticios de Lagidium viscacia y Abrocoma cinerea: roedores sintopicos en ambientes altoandinos del norte de Chile. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75: 583-593.

Ellerman, J. R. 1940. Families and genera of living rodents. Rodents other than Muridae. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom 1: 1-689.

Woods, C. A. and Kilpatrick, C. W. 2005. Infraorder Hystricognathi. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World, pp. 1538-1599. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Citation:	Dunnum, J., Bernal, N., Vivar, E., Jayat, J. & Ojeda, R. 2008. Abrocoma cinerea. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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