Chinese bamboo rat

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Chinese bamboo rat - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chinese bamboo rat

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Spalacidae
Genus:	Rhizomys
Species:	R. sinensis
Binomial name
*Rhizomys sinensis* J. E. Gray, 1831

The Chinese bamboo rat (Rhizomys sinensis) is a species of rodent in the family Spalacidae found in southern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. Its habitat is bamboo thickets usually at high elevations, pine forests, and plantations.^[1]

Description

The head and body length is 216 to 380 mm (8.5 to 15.0 in) with a tail of 50 to 96 mm (2.0 to 3.8 in) and the weight is 1,875 to 1,950 g (66.1 to 68.8 oz). The fur is soft with no guard hairs as are seen in the closely related hoary bamboo rat (Rhizomys pruinosus). On the side of the face and the crown the fur is dark greyish brown and on the body paler greyish brown. The under parts are scantily haired.^[2]

Behaviour

The Chinese bamboo rat is solitary, except during the breeding season. It breeds all year round, with a spring peak; litters of two to four young (eight maximum) are born naked, and are weaned at three months. Territory is marked by four to seven soil mounds marking plugged entrances (20 to 40 cm high and 50 to 80 cm across). Burrows are 20 to 30 cm deep and up to 45 m long. Escape tunnels are always at the ready, loosely plugged with soil. The nest chamber is 20 to 25 cm across and is lined with bamboo leaves. Mostly, it feeds on bamboo shoots and roots, usually on the surface, and moves on after about a year as the food supply becomes depleted.^[2] Predators include the snow leopard and the red panda.^[1]

Status

The Chinese bamboo rat has a very wide range, is common in some localities, is considered a plantation pest in parts of China, and is presumed to have a large total population. The main threat it faces is being hunted by humans for food.^[1] The Chinese bamboo rat has been farmed since the 1990s as a source of meat in southern China. In 2011, the number of farmed animals was more than 30 million in China, mainly distributed in the Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Zhejiang Provinces.^[3] The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed it as being of "least concern".^[1]

Parasites

Not much is known about the parasites of the Chinese Bamboo rat. The protozoans Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis and the nematode Trichinella spiralis have been reported.^[3] A 2021 study revealed that 4.6 % of farmed animals Hunan Province, south-central China, were infected by the protozoan parasite Blastocystis sp., a zoonotic pathogen. ^[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhizomys sinensis.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lunde, D.; Aplin, K.; Musser, G. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Rhizomys sinensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T19646A115152572. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T19646A22275131.en. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ ^a ^b Andrew T. Smith; Yan Xie (2008). A guide to the mammals of China. Princeton University Press. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Song, Junke; Yang, Xin; Ma, Xun; Wu, Xuemei; Wang, Yuxin; Li, Zhili; Liu, Guohua; Zhao, Guanghui (2021). "Molecular characterization of Blastocystis sp. in Chinese bamboo rats (Rhizomys sinensis)". Parasite. 28: 81. doi:10.1051/parasite/2021081. PMC 8672676.

John Edward Gray. Characters of three new genera, including two new species of Mammalia from China. "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London”. 1, s. 94–96, 1831. Zoological Society of London

Extant species of family Spalacidae

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Myomorpha
Superfamily: Muroidea

Myospalacinae
(Zokors)

Myospalax	M. myospalax group: False zokor (Myospalax aspalax) Siberian zokor (Myospalax myospalax) M. psilurus group: Transbaikal zokor (Myospalax psilurus)
Eospalax	Chinese zokor (Eospalax fontanierii) Rothschild's zokor (Eospalax rothschildi) Smith's zokor (Eospalax smithii)

Rhizomyinae

Rhizomys (Bamboo rats)	Hoary bamboo rat (Rhizomys pruinosus) Chinese bamboo rat (Rhizomys sinensis) Large bamboo rat (Rhizomys sumatrensis)
Cannomys (Bamboo rats)	Lesser bamboo rat (Cannomys badius)
Tachyoryctes (Mole rats)	Ankole African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes ankoliae) Mianzini African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes annectens) Aberdare Mountains African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes audax) Demon African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes daemon) Kenyan African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes ibeanus) Big-headed African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus) Navivasha African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes naivashae) King African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes rex) Rwanda African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes ruandae) Rudd's African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes ruddi) Embi African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes spalacinus) East African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes splendens) Storey's African mole-rat (Tachyoryctes storeyi)

Spalacinae
(Blind mole-rats)

Nannospalax	Middle East blind mole-rat (Nannospalax ehrenbergi) Lesser mole-rat (Nannospalax leucodon) Anatolian blind mole-rat (Nannospalax xanthodon)
Spalax	Sandy mole-rat (Spalax arenarius) Middle East blind mole-rat (Spalax ehrenbergi) Giant mole-rat (Spalax giganteus) Balkan mole-rat (Spalax graecus) Greater mole-rat (Spalax microphthalmus) Munzur mole-rat (Spalax munzuri) Kazakhstan blind mole-rat (Spalax uralensis) Podolsk mole-rat (Spalax zemni)

Category

Taxon identifiers
Rhizomys sinensis	Wikidata: Q2583168 ARKive: rhizomys-sinensis BOLD: 708449 CoL: 4SCSB EoL: 1179537 GBIF: 2438057 iNaturalist: 45028 IRMNG: 11080149 ITIS: 632759 IUCN: 19646 MDD: 1003789 MSW: 13000022 NCBI: 146130 Observation.org: 87383

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