The Mexican water mouse was first described as Rheomys mexicanus in 1959 by the American zoologist George Gilbert Goodwin. He was the assistant curator of mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and went on a number of collecting expeditions, including one to Iran in 1938.[4]
This rodent is found in and near the headwater streams of rivers in tropical forested areas.[1] Its natural history is poorly known, but it seems to rely on finding its food in the small streams among closed canopy forests in which it lives. Other members of Rheomys are also semiaquatic, with carnivorous diets and similar riparian habitats.
Status
R. mexicanus has a total area of occupancy of less than 5,000 km2 (2,000 sq mi), and within this distribution, it seems to have a fragmented range, being known from only four locations. It has a habitat requirement for pure, unpolluted water, and the quality and quantity of suitable habitat is declining. This habitat is under threat from deforestation and from water pollution, including from such human activities as household clothes-washing.[1] As a result of these threats, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the conservation status of this mouse as "endangered".[1]
