Taiwan white-bellied rat

Taiwan white-bellied rat
Systematics
Family :	Long-tailed mice (Muridae)
Subfamily :	Old World Mice (Murinae)
Tribe :	Rattini
	Dacnomys group
Genre :	White-bellied rats ( Niviventer )
Type :	Taiwan white-bellied rat
Scientific name
	Niviventer culturatus
	( Thomas , 1911)

The Taiwan white-bellied rat ( Niviventer culturatus ) is a rodent from the genus of white-bellied rats ( Niviventer ) within the old world mice (Murinae). It is endemic to the island of Taiwan .

features

The Taiwan white-bellied rat reaches a head-torso length of 13.0 to 15.0 centimeters with a tail 17 to 20 centimeters in length . The rear foot length is about 29 to 35 millimeters, the ear length 23 to 25 millimeters. The skull has a total length of 37 to 39 millimeters.

The back fur is soft and gray-brown, it is sharply demarcated from the cream-white belly. The tail is two-colored with a dark brown top and a creamy white underside; the back of the tail is completely white. The tops of the hands and feet are brown, but the fingers and toes are white. The face is gray with dark spots in front of and just behind the eyes. In appearance it partly corresponds to the Coxing white-bellied rat ( Niviventer coninga ), which also lives in Taiwan, but which is significantly larger.

distribution

The Taiwan white-bellied rat is only endemic to the island of Taiwan .

Way of life

Little information is available on the way of life of the Taiwanese white-bellied rat. It lives mainly in coniferous forest areas with hemlocks , but can also occur in secondary forest stands and is often associated with large piles of wood or lying tree trunks. It lives in the highlands between 2000 and 3000 meters.

Systematics

The Taiwan white-bellied rat is classified as a separate species within the white-bellied rats ( Niviventer ), which consists of 17 species. The first scientific description comes from the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas , who described the species in 1911 using individuals from Mount Arizan in Taiwan from an altitude of 2,440 meters. Sometimes it was considered a subspecies of the great Himalayan white-bellied rat ( Niviventer niviventer ) or the Chinese white-bellied rat ( Niviventer confucianus ). Chromosomal and other molecular biological data show that a sister species relationship to the Coxing white-bellied rat is unlikely and that both species have colonized the island independently of each other.

Status, threat and protection

The Taiwan white-bellied rat is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as a type of warning list and thus as potentially endangered (near threatened). This is justified with the limited distribution area of less than 5,000 km², but the occurrences and stocks seem to be stable. Potential threats are currently unknown, major logging in the mountain forests of Taiwan has declined sharply and is no longer a threat. Regular occurrences are documented for the Yushan National Park .

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Soft-Furred Taiwan Niviventer. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 267.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Niviventer culturatus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2016.2. Listed by: CH Johnston, AT Smith, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
↑ ^a ^b Niviventer culturatus . In: 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 .
^ Niviventer coninga . In: 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 .

literature

Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Soft-Furred Taiwan Niviventer. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 267.

Web links

Niviventer culturatus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.2. Listed by: CH Johnston, AT Smith, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2016.

[Smith_&_Yan_Xie_2009-1] Darrin Lunde, Andrew T. Smith: Soft-Furred Taiwan Niviventer. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2008, ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 , p. 267.

[IUCN-2] Niviventer culturatus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2016.2. Listed by: CH Johnston, AT Smith, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2016.

[Wilson_&_Reeder_2005-3] Niviventer culturatus . In: 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 .

[Wilson_&_Reeder_2005_coninga-4] Niviventer coninga . In: 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 .