Mammalia, Rodentia, Sigmodontinae, Akodon molinae Contreras, 1968: New locality

NABTE MARCELA J.,; ANALÍA ANDRADE; SERGIO L. SABA; ADRIÁN MONJEAU

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CRIA

Año: 2009 vol. 5 p. 320 - 324

1809-127X

Akodon molinae Contreras, 1968 is a large diurnal species. The holotype was collected in vivero del Ministerio de Asuntos Agrarios, Laguna Chasicó, Buenos Aires province, Argentina. The distribution of the southern populations is still fragmented and poorly explored. In this paper, we present 23 new locality records for A. molinae in the provinces of Río Negro and Chubut and we discuss its distribution in northeastern Patagonia. The specimens were collected on two protected areas from the arid and semiarid extra-andean Patagonia: Meseta de Somuncurá (Río Negro) and Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés (Chubut), and in some surrounding localities. Collected material is mostly constituted by craniodental remains recovered from owl´s pellets. Additionally, some specimens were collected through live traps and pitfall traps. The material is housed at Colección de Zooarqueología y Zoología, Unidad de Arqueología y Antropología, CENPAT-CONICET. The overall distribution of A. molinae in Patagonia is associated with the Monte Phytogeographical Province and the ecotone area between the Monte and the Patagonian Phytogeographical Provinces, the Rionegrino Ecotone and the Península Valdés Ecotone. Considering known locality records, the distribution of the Argentinean endemic A. molinae could be delimited approximately from 31º S in the north to Laguna Blanca, 15 km south of Puerto Madryn, in the southeast. The 23 new records reported in this paper contribute to fill in the information gaps of the poorly known A. molinae and to broaden its distribution towards the west within northern Patagonia.