Nectomys magdalenae Thomas 1897

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Cricetidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 955-1189 : 1132

Nectomys magdalenae Thomas 1897

Nectomys magdalenae Thomas 1897 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, 19: 499.

Type Locality: Colombia, Cundinamarca Dept. , lowlands near Magdalena River.

Vernacular Names: Magdalena Nectomys.

Synonyms: Nectomys grandis Thomas 1897 .

Distribution: Basins of the Magdalena and Cauca Rivers, N Colombia.

Discussion: Although considered a subspecies of N. squamipes by Hershkovitz (1944), Gómez-Laverde et al. (1999) elevated magdalenae to species based on its karyotype (2n = 34), which is uniquely divergent from those populations so far reported from Amazonia and SE Brazil (2n = 38-59; see other accounts). Reig (in Honacki et al., 1982) had considered grandis and magdalenae as possible synonyms of apicalis , but the distinctive karyotype and emerging biogeographic appreciation of the Transandean lowlands as a region of specific differentiation warrant provisional species recognition. In spite of the page priority of grandis over magdalenae , both names dating from Thomas 1897, Gómez et al. (1999) elected magdalenae as the valid name because the animal karyotyped originated near the type locality and since the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ( International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999) does not require strict adherence to page precedence, acceding to the judgement of first revisors. The soundness of the species definition, junior synonymy, and distributional extent should be confirmed with wider geographic sampling and additional analyses of karyotypic and other data.