Nesoryzomys darwini

Nesoryzomys darwini
Conservation status
Extinct (1930s) (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Cricetidae
Subfamily:	Sigmodontinae
Genus:	Nesoryzomys
Species:	†N. darwini
Binomial name
†Nesoryzomys darwini

Nesoryzomys darwini, also known as Darwin's nesoryzomys or Darwin's Galápagos mouse, is a species of rodent in the genus Nesoryzomys that lived on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos Islands. It was probably nocturnal and inhabited burrows or rock crevices under bushes. Only four specimens exist, collected by Frank Wonder between 12 and 16 January 1929. This extinction may have been caused by competition and disease created by the introduction of nonnative brown and black rats.

The other Nesoryzomys known from Santa Cruz, Nesoryzomys indefessus, is also extinct there; other species of the genus survive on different islands.

Literature cited

• Dowler, R.C., Carroll, D.S. and Edwards, C.W. 2000. Rediscovery of rodents (Genus Nesoryzomys) considered extinct in the Galápagos Islands. Oryx 34(2):109–118. ISSN 0030-6053
• Duff, A. and Lawson, A. 2004. Mammals of the World: A checklist. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 312 pp. ISBN 0-7136-6021-X
• Flannery, T. and Schouten, P. 2001. A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals. Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. ISBN 0-87113-797-6
• Musser, G.G. and Carleton, M.D. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. Pp. 894–1531 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
• Tirira, D., Dowler, R., Boada, C. and Weksler, M. 2008. Nesoryzomys darwini. In IUCN. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on December 8, 2009.