Far away from the endemism area: first record of the Ecuador fish-eating rat Anotomys leander (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in the Colombian Andes

Anotomys leander is an elusive rodent with the smallest known range among ichthyomyines, limited to only three localities in the Andes of Ecuador. Its last known record dates from 1980, and currently it is represented by a low number of specimens and localities, hampering knowledge about its geographic range. We provide the first Colombian record of A. leander, and its fourth known locality, based on an individual captured in Cajamarca, on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Central. The specimen exhibits all the diagnostic characteristics of the species, and it differs from Ecuadorean specimens in having a hypothenar pad and lacking a bacular cartilage. Our record extends the known range of the species 620 km northeastward, and increases the number of ichthyomyine species in Colombia to six. The assessment of its potential geographic range among areas in Ecuador and Colombia and the identification of its main threats in the latter are fundamental tasks to reassess the conservation status of this threatened Andean rodent.