Abstract

SANCHEZ-GIRALDO, Camilo  and  DELGADO-V., Carlos A.. Two new reports of autotomy of the tail in rodents. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.2, pp.481-484. ISSN 0327-9383.

At least 36 species, nine Neotropical, have been reported to present caudal autotomy. Here, we report the caudal autotomy in Heteromys sp. nov. and Neacomys tenuipes in the northern Cordillera Central of the Colombian Andes. Before the autotomy, N. tenuipes shakes and moves its whole body away while in Heteromys sp. nov. a striking strong gyratory movement of the body is observed. Both observations were made while we manipulated these rodents captured during fieldwork. The absence of captured rodents with autotomy could be a consequence of differences in the frequencies of predators attack or the intraspecific aggression.

Keywords : Colombia; Heteromys; Neacomys; Spiny mice; Tail loss.

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