Potential distribution and new records of Trinomys species (Rodentia: Echimyidae) in the state of Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The spiny rats of the genus Trinomys Thomas, 1921 have a broad distribution in the Atlantic Forests of southeastern Brazil. However, some species are known only from their type locality and adjacent areas. In our study, nine areas in the state of Rio de Janeiro were surveyed and three species of the genus were captured - Trinomys dimidiatus (Günther, 1877), T. setosus (Desmarest, 1817) and T. gratiosus bonafidei (MOOJEN, 1948). We extended the distribution of T. gratiosus bonafidei in 100 km, in a straight line to the northwest, and into an area of Semidecidual Seasonal Forest. We captured T. setosus, which had not been previously recorded in the state, in the municipality of Cambuci, extending its distribution 150 km, in a straight line to the east of its closest record, in Juiz de Fora, state of Minas Gerais. The state of Rio de Janeiro has now six recognized species of Trinomys, however none of them were collected above 1300 m of altitude. We used occurrence points provided by our inventories data and from the literature to model the potential distribution of Trinomys species. We used climatic, topographic and phytogeographic variables to prepare the potential distribution maps. The algorithm used for modeling was provided by the software Maxent, version 3.2.1. Although species boundaries within Trinomys in Rio de Janeiro State are not yet clear, their distributions seem to be parapatric, except for T. iheringi and T. dimidiatus.

Keywords

• Ecoregions
• climatic variables
• distribution models
• altitude