Melanomys caliginosus

Melanomys caliginosus
M. caliginosus in Turrialba, Costa Rica alongside banana peels
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Sigmodontinae
Genus:	Melanomys
Species:	M. caliginosus
Binomial name
Melanomys caliginosus (Tomes, 1860)

Skull of Melanomys caliginosus from Cerro Azul, Panama

Melanomys caliginosus, also known as the dusky melanomys or dusky rice rat, is a species of rodent in the genus Melanomys of family Cricetidae. It is found from Central America, in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, into South America, where it occurs in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. Populations currently classified under M. caliginosus may in fact include more than one species.

Literature cited

• Anderson, R.P., Gómez-Laverde, M. and Timm, R. 2008. Melanomys caliginosus. In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on November 15, 2009.
• 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