Tag Archives: Dicolpomys

Dicolpomys fossor Winge

Digging Spiny Rat (Dicolpomys fossor)

This species was described in 1887 on the basis of fossils that were found in Pleistocene deposits in Brazil; additional material was later also found in deposits that could be dated to the Early Holocene.

The same species, however, was recently recorded based on subfossil remains from the Late Holocene of Argentinia, thus it appears to have survived there and was then extirpated by humans, maybe even after the arrival of the first European settlers in the 15th century. [1]

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References:

[1] Diego H. Verzi; A. Itarí Olivares; Patricia Hadler; Juan C. Castro; Eduardo P. Tonni: Occurrence of Dicolpomys (Echimyidae) in the late Holocene of Argentinia: The most recently extinct South American caviomorph genus. Quaternary International 490: 123-131. 2018

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edited: 19.08.2022