Southern cotton rat: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the southern cotton rat lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Sigmodon hirsutus
Group	Mice, rats & other rodents
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	South America
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Cricetidae

Where does the southern cotton rat live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the southern cotton rat in 1 country or territory across South America.

Colombia

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the southern cotton rat endangered?

The southern cotton rat’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the southern cotton rat?

The southern cotton rat (Sigmodon hirsutus) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Cricetidae, genus Sigmodon. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the southern cotton rat

The southern cotton rat (Sigmodon hirsutus) is a rodent species in the family Cricetidae. It is found from southern Chiapas in Mexico through Central America, except for Belize, and as far east as northern Colombia and Venezuela. It lives in tropical rainforest, dry forest and savanna, as well as in cultivated areas. The species is terrestrial and primarily diurnal. It was long thought to be a subspecies of S. hispidus. However, recent taxonomic revisions, based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, have split the extensive former species range into three separate species. Carroll et al. (2004) indicate that the southern edge of the S. hispidus distribution is likely near the Rio Grande where it meets the northern distribution of S. toltecus (formerly S. h. toltecus). The range of S. toltecus extends from northern Mexico south into Chiapas where it occurs in sympatry with S. hirsutus (formerly S. h. hirsutus).

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Southern cotton rat (revision 1354946983), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1764463 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).