#0294 · 🦊 mammals

Hispid Cotton Rat

🇳🇱 Gewone Katoenrat ·Sigmodon hispidus

LCleast concern 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The hispid cotton rat ( Sigmodon hispidus ) is a rodent species long thought to occur in parts of South America, Central America, and southern North America. However, recent taxonomic revisions, based on mitochondrial DNA sequence data, have split this widely distributed species into three separate species ( S. hispidus , S. toltecus , and S. hirsutus ). The southern edge of the S. hispidus distribution is likely near the Rio Grande, where it meets the northern distribution of S. toltecus (formerly...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 7,405iNaturalist observations
weight 160 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
7,405 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs only about 160 g.
Scientifically named by Thomas Say in 1825 (201 years ago).