Oryzomys Dimidiatus - Distribution, Ecology, and Behavior

Distribution, Ecology, and Behavior

Oryzomys dimidiatus is known from three specimens collected in the lowlands of the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur in southeastern Nicaragua. The first, an old male, was collected on November 5, 1904, in a banana plantation with very moist red clay on the Río Escondido near El Rama. The second, a young adult male, was caught on July 26, 1966, in dense cane on the south bank of the Río Mico at El Recreo, 15 km (9 mi) west from the location of the first specimen, along with three other rice rats (O. couesi, Melanomys caliginosus, and Oligoryzomys fulvescens), the cotton rat Sigmodon hirsutus, and the cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus brasiliensis. The third was caught at a stream near Bluefields. Reid suggested that the species is semiaquatic, spending some time in the water, like other Oryzomys.