Swimming rats
| Swimming rats | ||||||||||||
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Gold-bellied swimming rat ( Hydromys chrysogaster ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hydromys | ||||||||||||
| É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , 1804 |
The swimming rats ( Hydromys ) are in the narrower sense a genus of aquatic rodents from the group of old world mice (Murinae) widespread in Australia and New Guinea .
General
With a head body length of 12 to 35 centimeters and a tail about the same length, some rather dainty species belong here, but also some relatively large animals for old world mice. The fur of the swimming rats is dark brown, yellow-brown or gray on the upper side, the underside is bright orange to brownish. As adaptations to aquatic life they have a streamlined body, high on the head eyes located and broad, with small webbed provided feet.
Swimming rats are native to Australia and New Guinea . They live along river banks and lakes as well as in swamps. On the bank they build a building that is padded with plant material. At dusk they hunt fish and aquatic insects; crustaceans, frogs, turtles and birds are also captured.
Systematics
Within the old world mice, the swimming rats are the namesake of the Hydromys genus group, a group of frequently water-dwelling rodents predominantly found in New Guinea, as well as the Monckton swimming rats ( Crossomys ), the mountain swimming rats ( Parahydromys ), the New Guinea mountain water rats ( Paraleptomys ) and the genera Includes Baiyankamys and Microhydromys . On the other hand, there is no close relationship to the South American fish rats , which have experienced very similar characteristics in convergent evolution .
According to genetic studies by Lecompte et al. (2008) the animals of the Hydromys group are part of a radiation of the old world mice, the hydromyini, which is mainly found in New Guinea and Australia. This radiation also includes the Chrotomys group , the Lorentzimys group , the Pogonomys group , the Pseudomys group , the Uromys group and the Xeromys group . With the actual rats ( Rattus ), however, there is only a very distant relationship.
The genus includes four species
- The gold-bellied swimming rat ( Hydromys chrysogaster ) is native to large parts of Australia and New Guinea as well as to the southern Moluccas .
- The western swimming rat ( Hydromys hussoni ) lives in western and central New Guinea.
- The New Britain swimming rat ( Hydromys neobritannicus ) occurs on the island of New Britain.
- Hydromys ziegleri was only described by Helgen in 2005, the species is only known from one site in northern New Guinea.
Two other species, Hydromys habbema and H. shawmayeri, are now listed as a separate genus Baiyankamys .
The IUCN lists the gold-bellied swimming rat as “not endangered” ( least concern ) and the other three species under “too little data available” ( data deficient ).
Surname
The Greek name Hydromys means "water mouse". In Australia they are called Beaver Rats ("beaver rats"); in German usage, however, this name is used for the nutria .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Emilie Lecompte, Ken Aplin, Christiane Denys, François Catzeflis, Marion Chades and Pascale Chevret: Phylogeny and biogeography of African Murinae based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, with a new tribal classification of the subfamily. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 8, 199, pp. 1-21, 2008
- ^ Kristofer M. Helgen: The amphibious murines of New Guinea (Rodentia, Muridae): the generic status of Baiyankamys and description of a new species of Hydromys . Zootaxa, 913, pp. 1-20, 2005
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD u. a. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
- Kristofer M. Helgen : The amphibious murines of New Guinea (Rodentia, Muridae): the generic status of Baiyankamys and description of a new species of Hydromys . In: Zootaxa. No. 913, 2005, ISSN 1175-5326 , pp. 1-20.
- 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 .
- 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 .
