New record of the rare atlantic forest rodent Phyllomys lundi (Mammalia: Rodentia)

Abstract

The arboreal echimyid rodent of the genus Phyllomys Lund, 1839 is found in the eastern Brazilian Atlantic forest, from the state of Ceará to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, reaching the São Francisco and Paraná river basins in the west. There are 13 species in the genus. Phyllomys lundi Leite, 2003, which until now was known from only two localities, is one of the four endemic Atlantic Forest species of Phyllomys with very restricted distribution. We provide additional data on the morphology, distribution and phylogeography (based on cytochrome b sequences) of the rare P. lundi. Our new record broadens the northern limit of the distribution P. lundi by approximately 250 km with respect to previous records.