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Issue: Vol. 5696 No. 4: 26 Sept. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-09-26
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5696.4.1
Page range: 451-481
Abstract views: 620
PDF downloaded: 7

Hidden diversity in Daptomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae): a new species from lower montane forests of central Peru

Departamento de Mastozoología; Museo de Historia Natural; Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Av. Arenales 1256; Lima 15072; Perú.
Departamento de Mastozoología; Museo de Historia Natural; Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Av. Arenales 1256; Lima 15072; Perú.; Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias mención Ecología y Evolución; Escuela de Graduados; Facultad de Ciencias; Universidad Austral de Chile; Valdivia 5090000; Chile.
Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado (SERNANP). Sede Central; Calle Diecisiete 355; Urb. El Palomar; San Isidro; Lima 15036; Perú.
Biosfera Consultores Ambientales; Calle Las Fresas 730; Miraflores; Lima 15048; Perú.
Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas; Universidad Austral de Chile; Campus Isla Teja s/n; Valdivia 5090000; Chile.; Facultad de Ingeniería en Industrias Alimentarias y Biotecnología; Universidad Nacional de Frontera; Av. San Hilarión N° 101; Nueva Sullana; Sullana—Piura—Perú.
Mammalia Daptomys Tingo María National Park Peru

Abstract

Daptomys Anthony, 1929, comprises at least five species, distributed in lower and premontane Neotropical forests from Venezuela to Bolivia, but its real diversity is likely underestimated. During recent expeditions to Tingo María National Park, Huánuco Department, in central Peru, we collected two specimens of Daptomys in premontane forest, that represent a new lineage. Here, we present an integrative approach combining coalescent phylogenetic analyses (based on cytochrome b and three nuclear gene sequences), along with morphological and morphometric data, to support the recognition of the Huánuco specimens as a new species of Daptomys, which we describe in this paper. The new species can be distinguished from other congeners by a unicolored tail ending in a distinct pencil of white hairs, a very small toothrow, anteriorly expanded nasals, a very short incisive foramina, a long palate with a prominent median process, and a large postglenoid foramen. In addition, the species delimitation methods recovered D. musseri as a valid species which is supported also by morphological and morphometric differentiation and distribution pattern.

 

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How to Cite

Pacheco, V., Sánchez-Vendizú, P., Fajardo, Úrsula, Cossíos, D. & Cadenillas, R. (2025) Hidden diversity in Daptomys (Rodentia: Cricetidae): a new species from lower montane forests of central Peru. Zootaxa, 5696 (4), 451–481. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5696.4.1