Guadalcanal giant rat
| Guadalcanal giant rat | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Uromys porculus | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1904 |
The Guadalcanal giant rat ( Uromys porculus ) is a presumably extinct rodent belonging to the genus of the mosaic-tailed giant rats ( Uromys ). It was endemic to the Solomon Islands, Guadalcanal, and is known only from a single male, believed to have been collected between 1886 and 1888.
features
The holotype has a head-body length of 220 mm, a tail length of 130 mm, a hind foot length of 43 mm and an ear length of 43 mm. The back fur is reddish, the peritoneum grayish. The short tail has no visible hair.
status
Between 1886 and 1888, the British naturalist Charles Morris Woodford collected the type specimen near Aola on Guadalcanal. In 1989, Tim Flannery observed a rodent that could fit the description of the Guadalcanal giant rat. However, he was unable to provide reliable evidence. Tim Flannery heard stories from locals about a large bottom-dwelling rat named Kopa that lived in caves and was observed until the 1960s. Presumably the stories about the Kopa relate to the Guadalcanal giant rat. The exact causes of the decline and presumed extinction are unknown. Deforestation , overhunting, the transmission of diseases brought in by invasive animal species and the stalking of feral domestic cats have played a decisive role in the disappearance of the species.
literature
- Colin P. Groves , Tim F. Flannery : A revision of the genus Uromys Peters, 1867 (Muridae: Mammalia) with descriptions of two new species. In: Records of the Australian Museum. Vol. 46, No. 2, 1994, ISSN 0067-1975 , pp. 145-170, doi : 10.3853 / j.0067-1975.46.1994.12 .
- Tim Flannery: Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Reed Books, Chatswood 1995, ISBN 0-7301-0417-6 .
Web links
- Uromys porculus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Leary, T. Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Singadan, R. Menzies, J., Bonaccorso, F., slipway, K. & Seri, L., 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
- Melanesia News - Save the Rats! PDF Online ( Memento from June 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (709.8 kB)