Puntilla tuco-tuco


The Puntilla tuco-tuco is a species of rodent in the family Ctenomyidae. It is endemic to central Argentina. The common name of the species comes from the municipality of La Puntilla at the type locality. It was first described by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas in 1920 after being collected by Emilio Budin, an Argentine specimen collector who worked with Oldfield Thomas.

Taxonomy

This species is treated by some authorities as synonymous with the tawny tuco-tuco, a species found in Chile, and further investigation needs to be done before its affinities can be resolved.

Description

The Puntilla tuco-tuco is a fairly large species of tuco-tuco. The type specimen has a head-and-body length of and a tail length of. It is an even pale colour and is distinguished from other tuco-tucos living in the same area by the long tail, the narrow skull and the broad auditory bullae. The Catamarca tuco-tuco is a darker colour and Foch's tuco-tuco is smaller.

Status

This species is known only from the location in La Puntilla in the Catamarca Province of Argentina from which it was first collected, at an elevation of about above sea level. Not enough is known about the species, its population size and trend, to enable the International Union for Conservation of Nature to assess its conservation status, so it has been rated as "data deficient".