46(915):93–100 Sciurus ignitus (Rodentia: Sciuridae) MELISSA J. MERRICK,SHARI L. KETCHAM, AND JOHN L. KOPROWSKI Wildlife Conservation and Management, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, 1311 E. 4th Street, Biological Sciences East Room 325, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; [email protected] (MJM); sketcham@email. arizona.edu (SLK); [email protected] (JLK) Abstract: Sciurus ignitus (Gray, 1867) is a Neotropical tree squirrel commonly known as the Bolivian squirrel. It is a small- bodied, understory and mid-canopy dweller that occurs within the evergreen lowland and montane tropical rain forests along Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/46/915/93/2643022 by guest on 15 June 2021 the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, and extreme northern Argentina, and the western Amazon Basin in Brazil and Peru between 200 and 2,700 m in elevation. S. ignitus is 1 of 28 species in the genus Sciurus, and 1 of 8 in the subgenus Guerlinguetus. The taxonomic status of this species, as with other small sciurids in Peru and Bolivia, remains ambiguous. S. ignitus is currently listed as ‘‘Data Deficient’’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Key words: Andes, Bolivia, Neotropics, Peru, tree squirrel Ó 18 December 2014 American Society of Mammalogists Synonymy completed 1 June 2014 DOI: 10.1644/915.1 www.mammalogy.org Sciurus ignitus (Gray, 1867) Sciurus (Mesociurus) argentinius Thomas, 1921:609. Type Bolivian Squirrel locality ‘‘Higuerilla, 2000 m, in the Department of Valle Grande, about 10 km. east of the Zenta range and 20 Macroxus ignitus Gray, 1867:429. Type locality ‘‘Bolivia;’’ km. from the town of Tilcara,’’ Jujuy Province, restricted to ‘‘probably near Yungas, upper Rio Beni,’’ Argentina. by Allen (1915:204). Macroxus leucogaster Gray, 1867:430. Type localities ‘‘South America, Bolivia, Santa Cruz de la Sierra’’ and ‘‘Brazil.’’ Macroxus irroratus Gray, 1867:431. Type locality ‘‘Brazil, Upper Ucayali;’’ restricted to ‘‘from the Ucayali River, probably from near Sarayacu,’’ by Thomas (1899:40). Sc[iurus]. aestuans Burmeister, 1869:456. Type locality ‘‘Brasilia y la Bolivia vecina. (Sa Cruz de la Sierra).’’ Sciurus aestuans cuscinus Thomas, 1899:40. Type locality ‘‘Ocabamba, Cuzco,’’ Peru (see ‘‘Nomenclatural Notes’’). Sciurus cuscinus: Thomas, 1902:129. Name combination. Sciurus cuscinus ochrescens Thomas, 1914:362. Type locality ‘‘Bolivia, in upper parts of Beni and Mamore´ Rivers. Type from Astillero, 678 W., 168 S. Alt. 2700 m.’’ Leptosciurus ignitus ignitus: Allen, 1915:204. Name combi- nation (see ‘‘Nomenclatural Notes’’). Leptosciurus ignitus irroratus: Allen, 1915:206. Name combination. Leptosciurus leucogaster: Allen, 1915:207. Name combina- tion. Sciurus ignitus: Osgood, 1916:204. First use of current name combination. Fig. 1.—Adult Sciurus ignitus (sex unknown) taken at the Cock-of- Sciurus irroratus ochrescens:Osgood,1916:204.Name the-Rock Lodge, Manu Road, Peru, July 2008. Photograph by combination. Fabrice Schmitt used with permission. 94 MAMMALIAN SPECIES 46(915)—Sciurus ignitus Sciurus boliviensis Osgood, 1921:39. Replacement name for further study because currently recognized subspecies are Macroxus leucogaster Gray, 1867 (see ‘‘Nomenclatural based primarily on geographic locations rather than Notes’’). observable differences or genetic study (Anderson 1997). Guerlinguetus rufus Moojen, 1942:14. Type locality ‘‘S. Joa˜o Gray (1867) identified New World tree squirrels (cabeceiras do Aripuana˜) M. Grosso;’’ restricted to possessing postauricular ear tufts as belonging to the genus ‘‘Brasil, en las sierras del noroeste de Mato-Grosso. Macroxus and separated specimens from the currently Localidad t´ıpica: Sa˜o Joao, en las Fuentes del r´ıo accepted range of S. ignitus into 3 species of Macroxus: Aripuana, estado de Matto [Mato]-Grosso,’’ by Cabrera Macroxus ignitus, Macroxus irroratus,andMacroxus (1961:371). Preoccupied by Sciurus rufus Kerr, 1792. leucogaster. Thomas (1899:40) attributed Gray’s (1867) Sciurus cabrerai Moojen, 1958:50–51. Replacement name Macroxus irroratus to the Sciurus aestuans group (as per for Guerlinguetus rufus Moojen, 1942 (see ‘‘Nomencla- Allen, 1878), naming a new subspecies (S. a. cuscinus)and Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mspecies/article/46/915/93/2643022 by guest on 15 June 2021 tural Notes’’). suggesting that the type locality of this form was ‘‘probably Sciurus aestuans argentius Anderson, 1985:12. Incorrect from near Sarayacu’’ on the Ucayali River, in Peru. In 1902, subsequent spelling of Sciurusaestuansargentinius Thomas named a specimen collected near Cochabamba, Anderson, 1985. Bolivia, as Sciurus cuscinus,however,apparentlylater (Thomas 1914:363) decided that the true S. cuscinus type CONTEXT AND CONTENT. Order Rodentia, suborder Sciur- ‘‘occurs in the upper parts of the Ucayali and Madre de Dios omorpha, family Sciuridae, subfamily Sciurinae, tribe Rivers’’ in Peru, which aligns with Gray’s (1867) M. Sciurini, genus Sciurus, subgenus Guerlinguetus. Dental irroratus type locality. Thomas (1914) then named a morphology and molecular evidence support the high-level specimen taken from Astillero, Bolivia, as S. c. ochrescens. grouping of sciurids into superfamily Sciuroidea (e.g., Allen’s (1915:199) review of the South American Sciuridae Montgelard et al. 2002; Marivaux et al. 2004) and provide created a genus, Leptosciurus,basedontheSciurus some evidence that suborder Sciuromorpha comprises pucheranii group, to which Allen states ‘‘Sciurus ignitus (¼ polyphyletic units (Marivaux et al. 2004); however, order ‘‘cuscinus’’)’’ must be associated based on pelage color and Rodentia, suborder Sciuromorpha is still the most com- texture, tooth structure, number of mammae, and tail monly recognized taxonomy (e.g., Thorington and Hoff- length. Here, Allen included Gray’s (1867) ignitus, leu- mann 2005). The genus Sciurus contains 28 species cogaster, and irroratus types as synonymous with Thomas’s (Thorington and Hoffmann 2005). Eight species are (1914) cuscinus group. Osgood (1916) referred to a specimen recognized within Guerlinguetus: Sciurus aestuans, S. gilvi- from Roquefalda, Bolivia, as Sciurus ignitus, adhering gularis, S. granatensis, S. ignitus, S. pucheranii, S. richmondi, strictly to the original descriptions of Gray’s (1867) ignitus S. sanborni,andS. stramineus (Honacki et al. 1982; and preferring to keep Thomas’s (1914) cuscinus group Thorington and Hoffmann 2005). Five subspecies of S. separate; Osgood named a 2nd specimen from the Chapare´ ignitus are currently recognized (Cabrera 1961; Anderson River (Bolivia) as S. irroratus ochrescens. Sanborn (1951), 1997; Thorington et al. 2012): Moojen (1958), Cabrera (1961), Anderson (1997), and S. i. argentinius Thomas, 1921:609. See above. Thorington et al. (2012) applied the genus Sciurus (instead S. i. boliviensis Osgood, 1921:39. See above, aestuans of Leptosciurus) with various types subsumed into the ignitus Burmeister and leucogaster Gray are synonyms. group, with 3 subspecies occurring in Bolivia (ignitus, S. i. cabrerai Moojen, 1958:50–51. See above, rufus Moojen irroratus, and boliviensis, and also possibly argentinius), 2 is a synonym. in Peru (irroratus and ignitus), 1 in Argentina (argentinius), S. i. ignitus (Gray, 1867:429). See above, ochrescens Thomas and 2 in Brazil (cabrerai and irroratus). S. i. cabrerai is based is a synonym. on only 1 specimen, in poor condition without an associated S. i. irroratus (Gray, 1867:431). See above, cuscinus Thomas skull. However, Cabrera (1961) decided to recognize this is a synonym. subspecies, because the original description is similar to characteristics of the ignitus group. Sciurus boliviensis NOMENCLATURAL NOTES. The assignment of South Amer- (Osgood, 1921) is a replacement name for Macroxus ican squirrel specimens to species has been difficult due to leucogaster (Gray, 1867) and no type locality is given. variable pelage color patterns, poor representation of certain However, the subspecies S. i. boliviensis was restricted by taxa, and a lack of sufficient documentation or familiarity Sanborn (1951:18–19) to ‘‘Sarayacu, on the Ucayli River with the type localities. Assignment to genus and species has south to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolvia. In Peru specimens changed many times for S. ignitus following successive have been taken in Chanchamayo, Junin; Pucallpa, Loreto; reviews of New World tree squirrels (e.g., Gray 1867; Agua Caliente and Pozuzo, Huanuco; Ocabamba, Hacienda Thomas 1899, 1902, 1914; Allen 1915; Cabrera 1961) and Cadena, Quincemil, and Huajyumbe, Cuzco.’’ Anderson remains unresolved due to lack of sufficient molecular data (1997) identified Sciurus aestuans Burmeister, 1869, as a (Amori et al. 2011). Assignment of subspecies also warrants synonym of S. i. boliviensis, presumably based on the stated 46(915)—Sciurus ignitus MAMMALIAN SPECIES 95 type locality, which is out of the known range for S. squirrel (S. aestuans) is somewhat smaller in size (mean body aestuans. mass ¼ 159–218 g; length of hind foot ¼ 42–50 mm) and The genus name Sciurus is from Greek skiouros, from darker in color compared to S. ignitus, but likely indistin- skia meaning shadow and oura meaning tail. The specific guishable in the field (Emmons and Feer 1999); however, the epithet ignitus means to ignite or make red hot in Latin range of S. aestuans does not appear to overlap with that of (Gotch 1996). Common names include antara (Thomas S. ignitus in Brazil, which is restricted to