New Guinea brush rats
| New Guinea brush rats | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Coccymys | ||||||||||||
| Menzies , 1990 |
New Guinea brush rats ( Coccymys ) are a genus of rodents from the group of old world mice (Murinae). The genus includes four species, all of which are native to New Guinea .
These rat-like rodents reach a head body length of 10 to 12 centimeters, the tail becomes 14 to 17 centimeters long and the weight is 26 to 35 grams. The long, dense fur is brown on the top and light gray on the belly. The head is rounded and the tail is hairy.
These animals live in New Guinea, their habitat are forests or grasslands at 1900 to 3600 meters above sea level, they can even live above the tree line. They usually stay on the ground and feed on green plant material in a purely vegetable manner.
There are four types:
- White-toothed brush rat ( Coccymys albidens (Tate, 1951)) is known only from a few specimens that were found in western New Guinea in the 1930s. The degree of endangerment of this species is unclear.
- Rumbler brush rat ( Coccymys ruemmleri (Tate & Archbold, 1941)) is widespread in the mountainous regions of New Guinea and according to the IUCN is not endangered.
- Shaw Mayer brush rat ( Coccymys shawmayeri (Hinton, 1943))
- Coccymys kirrhos Musser & Lunde, 2009
The genus is systematically part of the Pogonomys group , a radiation of Old World mice that is predominantly found in New Guinea.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .