Dinagat bark rat
| Dinagat bark rat | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Crateromys australis | ||||||||||||
| Musser , Heaney & Rabor , 1985 |
The Dinagat bark rat ( Crateromys australis ) is a barely researched rodent belonging to the genus of bark climbers from the Philippine island of Dinagat . It had only been known from the holotype since 1975 until it was rediscovered in 2012.
features
The type specimen has a head-trunk length of 265 mm, a tail length of 281 mm, a hind foot length of 43 mm and a skull length of 57.3 mm. The Dinagat bark rat is a large, tree-dwelling rat with a rather long, densely hairy tail. The fur on the top is long and rough, on the underside it is thin and short. The top is brown, the underside is light orange-brown. The tail is three-colored; the base of the tail is light brown like the rest of the body, the upper half of the tail is black, the lower half, including the tip of the tail, is white. The tail hair is short and hard. The ears, which are not very large, are dark. The top of the short, wide feet is covered with dark brown hair, the underside is hairless.
habitat
The holotype was found in a disturbed lowland rainforest near a logging road. Presumably the species is dependent on primary rainforests.
status
The Dinagat bark rat is considered extremely rare. In May 1975 the Filipino zoologist Dioscoro S. Rabor caught a specimen near Balitbiton, Loreto municipality , on the island of Dinagat. During several short expeditions to Dinagat, no further specimen was found in the period that followed. In surveys on the neighboring island of Siargao in 1990, the locals reported a tree-dwelling rat species that is said to look similar to the Dinagat bark rat. However, there is no confirmation of this. During an expedition to Dinagat in January 2012, the Czech zoologist Milada Reháková-Petru and her husband Václav Řehák succeeded in first hearing the calls of this species and filming a specimen a week later.
Dinagat is particularly endangered by the chromite production that is prevalent in ultra-basic areas. In addition, deforestation and the fighting between the Philippine government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have a negative impact on the habitat of this species.
literature
- Guy G. Musser , Lawrence R. Heaney, Dioscoro Rabor : Philippine rats. A new species of Crateromys from Dinagat Island. In: American Museum Novitates. No. 2821, 1985, ISSN 0003-0082 , pp. 1-25, online .
- WLR Oliver, CR Cox, PC Gonzales, LR Heaney: Cloud rats in the Philippines - Preliminary Report on Distribution and Status. In: Oryx. Vol. 27, No. 1. 1993, ISSN 0030-6053 , pp. 41-48, doi : 10.1017 / S0030605300023942 .
- Guy G. Musser, Michael D. Carleton : Superfamily Muroidea. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Volume 2. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 894-1531.
- Řeháková, M., V. Řehák and WLR Oliver. (2015). Rediscovery of the Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat Crateromys australis (Musser, Heaney & Rabor, 1985) (Mammalia: Rodentia: Muridae) from Dinagat Island, Philippines . Journal of Threatened Taxa 7 (8): 7428-7435.