Red Crested Tree Rat Santamartamys rufodorsalis

They have only been found in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia. After first being described in 1898, they were thought to be extinct until one was recorded in 2011. They are affected by feral cats, climate change, and the clearing of forest.

Red-crested tree rat (Santamartamys rufodorsalis)

The red-crested tree rat had not been recorded since 1898, until it was spied on 4 May 2011 at the El Dorado Nature Reserve in northern Colombia, owned and protected by World Land Trust (WLT) partner ProAves. Volunteers at the reserve, who are researching endangered amphibians, stumbled across this animal when it showed up at their EcoLodge in the evening. This pretty red-furred rodent, described as being the size of a guinea pig, is from a unique genus and could only be identified by two specimens collected in 1880. The species is estimated to be Critically Endangered, so it’s lucky that it was found in a protected area. If you want to help keep the red-crested tree rat’s habitat safe, you can donate to WLT here.

Classification Animalia - Chordata - Mammalia - Eutheria - Boreoeutheria - Euarchontoglires - Glires - Rodentia - Hystricomorpha - Hystricognathiformes - Hystricognathi - Caviomorpha - Octodontoidea - Echimyidae - Echimyinae - Santamartamys - S. rufodorsalis