Tag Archives: Megalomys sp.

Megalomys sp. ‘La Desirade’

La Desirade Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)

This species is known from subfossil remains that were recovered from archaeological sites on the small island of La Desirade off the northeast coast of Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles.

The remains were dated to about 600 to 1400 AD.. [1][2]

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References:

[1] S. T. Turvey: Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press, USA 2009
[2] Myriam Boudadi-Maligne; Salvador Bailon; Corentin Bochaton; Fabrice Casagrande; Sandrine Grouard; Nathalie Serrand; Arnaud Lenoble: Evidence for historical human-induced extinctions of vertebrate specieson La Désirade (French West Indies). Quaternary Research 85: 54-65. 2016

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edited: 17.02.2020

Megalomys sp. ‘Grenada’

Grenada Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)

This species is known from subfossil remains that were excavated on the island of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles.

The species was formerly just named as Cricetidae gen. & sp. ‘Grenada’, it was finally formally described in 2021.[1]

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References:

[1] Brittany A. Mistretta; Christina M. Giovas; Marcelo Weksler; Samuel T. Turvey: Extinct insular oryzomyine rice rats (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae) from the Grenada Bank, southern Caribbean. Zootaxa 4951(3): 434-460. 2021

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edited: 12.04.2021

Megalomys sp. ‘Barbuda’

Barbuda Rice Rat (Megalomys sp.)

This species is known from subfossil remains, which originally were not assigned to any known genus.

The Barbuda Rice Rat was endemic to the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles, it was sympatric with another species of the same genus, the Barbuda Giant Rice Rat (Megalomys audreyae Hopwood). [1]

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References:

[1] Gregory K. Pregill; David W. Steadman; David R. Watters: Late Quaternary vertebrate faunas of the Lesser Antilles: historical components of Caribbean biogeography. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 30: 1-51. 1994

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edited: 17.02.2020