Neusticomys

Neusticomys is a genus of semiaquatic, animalivorous South American rodents in the family Cricetidae.^[1]

Neusticomys
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Sigmodontinae
Subtribe:	Ichthyomyina
Genus:	Neusticomys Anthony, 1921
Type species
Neusticomys monticolus Anthony, 1921
Species
N. monticolus N. orcesi N. vossi

The term Neusticomys derives from the two ancient greek words νευστικός (neustikós), meaning "able to swim", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat".^[2][3] N. monticolous and N. vossi primarily inhabit montante regions of west Columbia and eastern Ecuador, with the former noted to occur in the Andean Cordillera and the Occidental mountain range at elevations of 1,800-3,750 meters. The rest inhabit tropical lowland forests primarily in the northern and eastern regions of the Amazon rainforest, whereas N. peruviensis is an endemic species to Peru.^[4][5]

This genus contains the following threespecies:^[6]

• Montane fish-eating rat (N. monticolus) — Anthony, 1921
• Las Cajas water mouse (N. orcesi) — (P. D. Jenkins & Barnett, 1997)
• Voss' fish-eating rat (N. vossi) — (Hanson, D’Elía, Ayers, Cox, Burneo & Lee, 2015)

Distribution

Distribution of Neusticomys species

Species	Ecosystem	Endemic to
N. monticolus	Montane ecosystem (at elevations of 1800–3750 meters)	Northern Ecuador and western Colombia
N. vossi	Montane ecosystem (at elevations of 1900–3750 meters)	Southern Colombia and northern and central Ecuador