White tooth rats
| White tooth rats | ||||||||||||
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Bowers' white-toothed rat ( Berylmys bowersi ), lithograph by John Gerrard Keulemans , 1878 |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Berylmys | ||||||||||||
| Ellerman , 1947 |
The white-toothed rats ( Berylmys ) are a genus of Southeast Asian rodents that were initially described as a sub-genus of the real rats ( Rattus ). It was not until 1983 that rodents specialist Guy Musser raised them to the rank of their own genus. A relationship with the Sunda giant rats ( Sundamys ) is assumed.
There are four types:
- Small white-toothed rat ( Berylmys berdmorei ), southern Southeast Asia
- Bowers white-toothed rat ( Berylmys bowersi ), Southeast Asia, northern Sumatra
- Kenneth White-toothed Rat ( Berylmys mackenziei ), northern Southeast Asia
- Manipur white tooth rat ( Berylmys manipulus ), Assam , northern Myanmar
The size varies greatly between species. The head body length ranges from 14 to 30 centimeters, the tail is about as long as the body. The fur is silver-gray on top and sharply set off from the white underside. The genus is named after the most important distinguishing feature from the genus Rattus : The incisors are white, whereas in Rattus they are orange.
White-toothed rats inhabit tropical rainforests and rarely come into contact with humans. They dig burrows in the ground and, as omnivores, feed on fruits, grasses, leaves and seeds as well as insects and worms.
The IUCN lists the Manipur white tooth rat and Kenneth's white tooth rat under “too little data available” ( data deficient ), the other two species are “not at risk” ( least concern ).
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 .
- Michael D. Carleton , Guy G. Musser : Order Rodentia. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. Volume 2. 3rd edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 , pp. 745-752.
