White-faced spiny tree-rat
The white-faced spiny tree-rat is a spiny rat species from South America. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname. The etymology of the species name derives from the two ancient greek words, gold, and, animal tail. According to genetic analysis, the species is closely related to the dark spiny tree-rat.
Systematics and etymology
The white-faced spiny tree rat was first described by Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zimmermann in 1780, who drew upon Jean-Nicolas-Sébastien Allamand's 1778 addition to the Histoire Naturelle titled "Le Lerot à queue dorée". Zimmermann gave the species the scientific name of Myoxus chrysurus and wrote that its type locality was in Suriname. The taxonomy of the white-faced spiny tree rat changed often throughout the 18th and 19th centuries; Allamand initially placed the species in the genus Hystrix, the Old World porcupines, and later authors would assign it to Glis, Loncheres, and Nelomys before the currently accepted name, Echimys chrysurus, was assigned by Heinrich Rudolf Schinz in his 1825 translation of Le Règne Animal.Description
White-faced spiny tree-rats typically weigh between and have a head-body length of. Their fur is made up of a mixture of broad, heavy spines and dark hairs that are brown at the tip and gray along the shaft. The fur near the back of the head is often darker than that along the rest of the animal's body.The main diagnostic character state or trait of this Echimys species is the presence of a white stripe on the head. As compared to Echimys vieirai and Echimys saturnus, the pelage on the back of E. chrysurus is brighter.