Ryukyu rat
| Ryukyu rat | ||||||||||||
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Preparation of a Ryukyu rat ( Diplothrix legata ) in the National Museum of Natural Sciences , Tokyo, Japan |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Diplothrix | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1916 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Diplothrix legata | ||||||||||||
| ( Thomas , 1906) |
The Ryukyu rat ( Diplothrix legata ) is a rodent from the group of old world mice (Murinae).
Ryukyu rats reach a head body length of 22 to 33 centimeters and a tail length of 24 to 33 centimeters. Their long, dense fur is gray in color, with the underside being slightly lighter than the top. The tail is hairy, the small ears are sparsely hairy.
These rodents live on the Ryūkyū Islands belonging to Japan , namely Amami-Ōshima , Tokunoshima and Okinawa . Their habitat are forests, mostly they live between 300 and 400 meters above sea level. They mainly stay in trees.
The main dangers for the Ryukyu rat are deforestation and stalking by dogs , cats and the small mongooses that have been introduced . The IUCN lists the species as "critically endangered" ( endangered ).
literature
- Emilie Lecompte, Ken Aplin, Christiane Denys, François Catzeflis, Marion Chades, Pascale Chevret: Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily. In: BMC Evolutionary Biology. Vol. 8, 199, 2008, pp. 1-21, doi : 10.1186 / 1471-2148-8-199 .
Web links
- Diplothrix legata onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved May 29, 2009.