Coastal tapeti
| Coastal tapeti | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Sylvilagus |
| Species: | S. tapetillus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Sylvilagus tapetillus Thomas, 1913
| |
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
|
Sylvilagus brasiliensis tapetillus R. S. Hoffmann & A. T. Smith, 2005 | |
The coastal tapeti (Sylvilagus tapetillus), also known as the Rio de Janeiro dwarf cottontail or dwarf tapeti, is a species of cottontail rabbit native to Brazil. Known from only three specimens, captured in the late nineteenth century in the Paraíba Valley, it was for a long time considered to be a subspecies of the common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis). Slightly smaller than its close relative, analysis in 2017 confirmed that it is sufficiently distinct in both appearance and genetics to be considered a species in its own right.[3] Due to destruction of its putative habitat in the densely populated Paraíba Valley, it is unclear whether or not the species still survives in the present day.[1][4]
Taxonomy
[edit]The coastal tapeti was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1913, who was at the time attempting to clarify the different species across the broad distribution of the common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), as traditionally defined in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus.[5] The type specimen and species overall was originally described as "extremely small", and this characteristic was used to justify differentiating the species from others in the S. brasiliensis group.[6] Its type locality was noted as "near Rezende, from Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil" at an elevation of 1,280 feet (390 m).[2] It was among the first species to be clarified as distinct from the common tapeti, with the one other clarified species known as of 2018 being the Andean tapeti (S. andinus).[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b Ruedas, L.A.; Smith, A.T. (2019). "Sylvilagus tapetillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T142542759A165117046. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T142542759A165117046.en. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "Sylvilagus tapetillus (id=1001146)". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
- ^ Ruedas et al. 2017, pp. 43–46, 55.
- ^ Ruedas et al. 2017, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Ruedas et al. 2017, p. 2.
- ^ Thomas, Oldfield (1913). "Notes on S. American Leporidæ". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 11 (62): 209–214. ISSN 0374-5481. OCLC 1481361.
- ^ Ruedas, Luis A.; Smith, Andrew T. (2018). "Sylvilagus brasiliensis sensu stricto". In Smith, Andrew T.; Johnston, Charlotte H.; Alves, Paulo C.; Hackländer, Klaus (eds.). Lagomorphs: Pikas, Rabbits, and Hares of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 125–130. doi:10.1353/book.57193. ISBN 978-1-4214-2341-8. LCCN 2017004268.
References
[edit]- Ruedas, Luis A.; Silva, Sofia Marques; French, Johnnie H.; Platt II, Roy Nelson; Salazar-Bravo, Jorge; Mora, Jose M.; Thompson, Cody W. (2017). "A prolegomenon to the systematics of South American cottontail rabbits (Mammalia, Lagomorpha, Leporidae: Sylvilagus): designation of a neotype for S. brasiliensis (Linnaeus, 1758), and restoration of S. andinus (Thomas, 1897) and S. tapetillus Thomas, 1913" (PDF). Miscellaneous Publications. 205. Ann Arbor: Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. ISSN 0076-8405.