Invasive rodents in French Guiana: an overview for Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, and R. rattus (Murinae: Muridae)

• Main Author: Catzeflis, Francois
• Other Authors: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Guyane; Invasive rodents; Distribution; Guianan Shield; Guiana Francesa; Roedores invasores; Distribuição; Escudo das Guianas; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology; Norway; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02944824

International audience As the invasive murine rodents have too often been neglected in Neotropical faunal inventories, a synthesis on the presence of the House mouse, the Black rat, and the Norway rat was ascertained for French Guiana. We relied on preserved museum-specimens, on caught and released animals, on identified remains extracted from Barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets, and on bona-fide visual observations. The aggregated data allowed documenting the presence of at least one invasive Murinae in 31 localities throughout the country. Most observations and/or captures concern the northern coastal areas, where the vast majority of villages and cities are to be found. All three murines were found together in only two localities (Sinnamary; Cayenne) whereas globally the most frequent species was Rattus rattus, followed by Mus musculus, and finally R. norvegicus. Invasive murines were also found on five offshore islands, and the House mouse was caught in an isolated gold-mining camp in the center of the country. Biometric data are provided for characterizing some external and cranio-dental variables in M. musculus and R. rattus. Owl pellets materials indicate that both species of Rattus can be easily sorted by the crown-length non-overlapping values of their upper and/or lower molars. Roedores invasores na Guiana Francesa: uma visão general Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus e R. rattus (Murinae: Muridae). Considerando que os roedores muríneos têm sido muito frequentemente negligenciados nos inventários da fauna neotropical, uma síntese sobre a presença do camundongo, do rato-preto e da ratazana foi feita para a Guiana Francesa. Nós nos baseamos em espécimes preservados em museus, em animais capturados e posteriormente soltos, em fragmentos identificados oriundos de regurgitos da coruja suindara (Tyto alba) e em registros visuais de naturalistas experientes. Os dados em conjunto permitiram documentar a presença de, pelo menos, um Murinae invasor em 31 localidades ao longo do país. A maioria das observações e/ou ...