Lestoros inca

Authority citation

Thomas, O. 1917-04-10. Preliminary diagnoses of new mammals obtained by the Yale-National Geographic Society Peruvian Expedition. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 68(4):1-3.

Authority publication link

Original name as described

Orolestes inca

Other common names

Incan Caenolestid · Peruvian Shrew-opossum

Type material

USNM:MAMM:194401

Type kind

holotype

Type specimen URI

Type locality

"Torontoy, 14,000 feet [= 4267 m]," Urubamba Province, Cusco Region, Peru.

Biogeographic realm

Neotropic

Country distribution

Peru · Bolivia

Distribution notes

Andes of S Peru (from Ocabamba to Llamachaqui) and NW Bolivia (La Paz Department).

Taxonomy notes

Bublitz (1987) treated Lestoros as a synonym of Caenolestes, however, mitochondrial (cytochrome b; Ojala-Barbour et al. 2013) and skull and dental morphometric data (Martin 2013) support the recognition of Lestoros as a distinct genus from both Caenolestes and Rhyncholestes, and suggests a sister relationship with Rhyncholestes. Bublitz (1987) also described the name _C. gracilis_, which has been treated as a synonym of _L. inca_ by most authorities following its description (e.g., Myers and Patton 2008); this was morphologically validated by Martin (2013), who found little skull and dental morphological variation across the species distribution, suggesting there are no recognizable subspecies either. Monotypic.

Taxonomy notes citation

Bublitz, J. (1987). Untersuchungen zur Systematik der rezenten Caenolestidae Trouessart, 1898 unter Verwendung craniometrischer Methoden. Bonner zoologische Monographien, 23, 1-96. · Myers, P., & Patton, J. L. (2008). Genus Lestoros Oehser, 1934. In: A. L. Gardner, Mammals of South America, Volume 1: Marsupials, Xenarthrans, Shrews, and Bats. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 124-126. · Martin, G. M. (2013). Intraspecific variability in Lestoros inca (Paucituberculata, Caenolestidae), with reports on dental anomalies and eruption pattern. Journal of Mammalogy, 94(3), 601-617. · Ojala-Barbour, R., Pinto, C. M., Brito M, J., Albuja V, L., Lee Jr, T. E., & Patterson, B. D. (2013). A new species of shrew-opossum (Paucituberculata: Caenolestidae) with a phylogeny of extant caenolestids. Journal of Mammalogy, 94(5), 967-982.

IUCN Red List status

Least Concern

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