A new species of northern shrew-opossum (Paucituberculata: Caenolestidae) from the Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador

Abstract

A preliminary biological survey of the remote Cordillera del Cóndor revealed a new species of northern shrew-opossum (Caenolestes), the fourth species known from the northern Andes. The new form is distinguished from congeners by numerous metrical characters, especially of the skull and teeth; it is the largest living caenolestid. Its habitat is at the interface of densely forested montane slopes and the more open, low-lying vegetation that covers the main plateau. This vegetation is reminiscent of that in the tepuis of Venezuela and the Guianas. Diagnosis of the new species accompanies qualitative and morphometric comparisons to other caenolestid genera and species. Because the related species C. convelatus and C. caniventer occur mainly on the Pacific slope of the Andes, the presence of the new species on the Cordillera del Cóndor, an eastern foothill range, is remarkable.