Child’s Rice Rat vs Coffee Grove Salamander

Nephelomys childi compared with Aquiloeurycea cafetalera

Key Differences

• Child’s Rice Rat is Least Concern while Coffee Grove Salamander is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Child’s Rice Rat	Coffee Grove Salamander
Kingdom same	Animalia (동물)	Animalia (동물)
Phylum same	Chordata (척삭동물)	Chordata (척삭동물)
Class	Mammalia (포유류)	Amphibia (양서류)
Order	Rodentia (설치류)	Caudata (도롱뇽목)
Family	Cricetidae	Plethodontidae
Genus	Nephelomys	Aquiloeurycea
Species	Nephelomys childi	Aquiloeurycea cafetalera

Evolutionary Relationship

Child’s Rice Rat and Coffee Grove Salamander share a common ancestor at the Phylum level: Chordata. (척삭동물)

Conservation Status

Child’s Rice Rat

LC — Least Concern

Coffee Grove Salamander

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Child’s Rice Rat	Coffee Grove Salamander
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Child’s Rice Rat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found in Colombia.

Coffee Grove Salamander

Habitat

Typically found in freshwater habitats, moist forests, and wetlands.

Range

Found in Mexico. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Child’s Rice Rat

The Child’s Rice Rat (Nephelomys childi) is a species in the genus Nephelomys. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Coffee Grove Salamander

The Coffee Grove Salamander (Aquiloeurycea cafetalera) is a small, fully terrestrial plethodontid salamander in the family Plethodontidae, endemic to the cloud forests and coffee agroforestry zones of the Sierra de Juárez in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. Like all plethodontid salamanders, it is lungless, relying entirely on cutaneous gas exchange through its moist skin, making it exquisitely sensitive to desiccation and temperature changes. Adults are slender, with a reddish-brown dorsum and light-coloured venter, typically measuring 5–8 centimetres in total length. The species inhabits cool, humid cloud forest floor environments and the leaf litter and bark of shade-grown coffee plantations at elevations approximately between 1,500 and 2,500 metres—an association that gives it its common name. The presence of this salamander in coffee agroforestry systems highlights the biodiversity value of traditional shade-grown cultivation compared to sun-grown monocultures. The Coffee Grove Salamander is classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to its restricted distribution, estimated extent of occurrence below 5,000 square kilometres, and ongoing threats from habitat loss through deforestation, conversion to sun-grown coffee cultivation, and climate-driven changes to cloud forest conditions. No ex situ conservation programmes are known to be in place.