Ototylomys phyllotis
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The big-eared climbing rat (Ototylomys phyllotis) is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found in Central America from Mexico to Costa Rica. The big-eared climbing rat is in the order Rodentia and in the family Cricetidae and is most widely distributed species in the genus Ototylomys. A second species of the genus was described in 2017 from the Mexican state of Chiapas. The genus dates back 3.35 Mya, prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange and Its initial occurrence was near Honduras and El Salvador.
Ototylomys is Greek for otus (ear), tylos (knob, knot, swelling), and mus (mouse), which describes the animal's large ears and shelf-like skull. The big-eared climbing rat is a slender rat with two colors; dark on top of its body and light below. Its eyes and ears are large. It has large naked ears and a long naked tail with scales. Its size and color varies depending on where it lives geographically but most populations have a creamy white underbelly except for those in Mexico and Guatemala, which have a slate-colored underbelly. The skull is flat on top and has a prominent interparietal bone and supraorbital ridges There is no sexual dimorphism... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Big-eared Climbing Rat sighting in Santa Rosa National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 17 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, May and September
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Big-eared Climbing Rat in Santa Rosa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, June, August and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Big-eared Climbing Rat sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Santa Rosa National Park, in our data
Santa Rosa National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Big-eared Climbing Rat sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Rodentia
The closest relatives of the Big-eared Climbing Rat that you can see in Santa Rosa National Park (order Rodentia, Rodents) are Central American Agouti (about 60%), Variegated Squirrel (about 20%) and Salvin's Spiny Pocket Mouse (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Big-eared Climbing Rat is recorded against all the mammals logged in Santa Rosa National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
