Megalomys luciae

Megalomys luciae
Stuffed specimen

Extinct  (1881)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Rodentia
Family:Cricetidae
Subfamily:Sigmodontinae
Genus:†Megalomys
Species: †M. luciae
Binomial name
Megalomys luciae
Synonyms

Oryzomys luciae Major, 1901

Megalomys luciae, also known as the Saint Lucia pilorie[2] or Saint Lucia giant rice rat,[1] as well as several variant spellings, is an extinct[1] rodent that lived on the island of Saint Lucia in the eastern Caribbean. It was the size of a small cat, and it had a darker belly than Megalomys desmarestii, a closely related species from Martinique, and slender claws. The last known specimen died in London Zoo in 1852, after three years of captivity.[3] It probably became extinct in the latter half of the nineteenth century, with the last record dating from 1881.[4] There is a specimen in the collection of the Natural History Museum in London.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Turvey and Helgen, 2008
  2. ↑ Musser and Carleton, 2005
  3. ↑ Flannery and Schouten, 2001
  4. ↑ Ray, 1962

Literature cited

  • Flannery, T. and Schouten, P. 2001. A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-00819-2 (UK edition)
  • Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
  • Ray, C.E. 1962. The Oryzomyine Rodents of the Antillean Subregion. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Harvard University, 211 pp.
  • Turvey, S. and Helgen, K. 2008. Megalomys luciae. In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on November 24, 2009.


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