Sulawesi mountain rats

Sulawesi mountain rats
Systematics
Superfamily : Mice-like (Muroidea) Family : Long-tailed mice (Muridae) Subfamily : Old World Mice (Murinae) Tribe : Rattini Rattus group Genre : Sulawesi mountain rats
Scientific name
Bunomys
Thomas , 1910

The Sulawesi mountain rats ( Bunomys ) are a genus of rodents from the group of old world mice (Murinae). The genus includes eight species.

Sulawesi mountain rats reach a head body length of 10 to 20 centimeters, in addition there is a 10 to 18 centimeter long tail. The weight is 60 to 150 grams. The fur is soft and dense, it is blue-gray to brownish in color and there is usually no contrast between the top and bottom.

These animals are endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi . They inhabit tropical forests, sometimes also bush lands, sometimes also in the mountains up to over 2000 meters. Their diet consists of fruits, insects, snails and earthworms.

Eight types are known:

• Bunomys andrewsi in Central and South Sulawesi
• Bunomys chrysocomus all over Sulawesi,
• Bunomys coelestis , which only lives in a small area in southwest Sulawesi,
• Bunomys fratrorum in northeast Sulawesi,
• Bunomys karokophilus from Central Sulawesi,
• Bunomys penitus in mountainous regions in Central Sulawesi and
• Bunomys prolatus , which inhabits a small area in eastern Sulawesi.
• Bunomys torajae from Central Sulawesi.

The main threat to these animals is the destruction of their habitat. Except for B. andrewsi and B. chrysocomus , all species are listed as endangered or threatened by the IUCN , the most precarious for B. coelestis and B. prolatus .

The Sulawesi mountain rats are systematically classified in the Rattus group, i.e. they are closely related to the rats .

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 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Musser, G. (2014). "A systematic review of Sulawesi Bunomys (Muridae, Murinae) with the description of two new species". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 392: 1-313. doi: 10.1206 / 863.1

Web links

• Bunomys on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved October 16, 2009.