The Malagasy rodents are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits. There are arboreal, terrestrial, and semi-fossorial varieties.
The Ilin Island cloudrunner is a cloud rat known from a single specimen purchased on Ilin Island in the Philippines. It is called siyang by the Taubuwid Mangyan. It is a fluffy-coated, bushy-tailed rat and may have emerged from tree hollows at night to feed on fruits and leaves. The specimen, collected on 4 April 1953, was presented to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. The island's forests have been destroyed by human activity. The cloudrunner is among the 25 “most wanted lost” species that are the focus of Re:wild’s “Search for Lost Species” initiative. As there in no proof that the single specimen originated on Ilin Island, searches are now focussed on nearby Mindoro. Hope that it may be rediscovered have prompted IUCN to improve its status from possibly Extinct (EX?) in 1994 to Critically Endangered (CR) in 1996 before the current Data Deficient (DD) from 2008.
Batomys is a genus of rodent endemic to the Philippines. It has six extant described species.
The cloud rats or cloudrunners are a tribe (Phloeomyini) of arboreal and nocturnal herbivorous rodents endemic to the cloud forests of the Philippines. They belong to the family Muridae and include five genera: Batomys, Carpomys, Crateromys, Musseromys, and Phloeomys. They range in size from as large as 50 cm (20 in) to as small as 74 mm (2.9 in). Cloud rats are threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting. Several species are endangered or critically endangered.
The Panay cloudrunner is the second-largest cloud rat, a squirrel-like rodent that is found on the island of Panay in the Philippines. It is the most endangered rodent species in Panay, and one of the only few known cloud rat species in the world.
The Black-tailed dwarf cloud rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Philippines, specifically in northern Luzon. Its natural habitat is tropical moist montane forests.
Carpomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae. It contains two extant species, and one extinct species:
The Brown-tailed dwarf cloud rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.
The Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat, Dinagat crateromys or Dinagat cloud rat is a species of cloud rat in the family Muridae. It is one of the eight cloud rats found only in the Philippines, and is specifically endemic to Dinagat Island. It is known locally as hawili. A single specimen was discovered in 1975 by Dioscoro S. Rabor and his team during a scientific survey in Dinagat. The natural habitat is tropical lowland forests, which are facing environmental threats. Habitat loss is caused by progressive deforestation from heavy logging and chromite mining in the area. Almost 40 years after the original discovery, five live specimens were discovered by Milada Řeháková, Václav Řehák and William L.R. Oliver, in 2012.
The giant bushy-tailed cloud rat or Luzon bushy-tailed cloud rat is a large, endangered species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is only found in pine and mossy forest at altitudes of 2,000–2,740 metres (6,560–8,990 ft) in the Central Cordillera of Luzon, the Philippines. Relatively little is known about its behavior, but it is nocturnal, mainly arboreal and feeds on various types of vegetation.
Gerbillurus is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae. It contains the following species:
Leopoldamys is a genus of rodents in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia. It contains the following species:
Melomys is a genus of rodents in the family Muridae. Members of this genus live in the wet habitats of northern Australia, New Guinea, Torres Strait Islands and islands of the Indonesian archipelago.
The southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat or southern Luzon giant cloud rat, also known as bugkon in Filipino, is a vulnerable species of rodent in the family Muridae, found only in southern Luzon in the Philippines. It is dark brown, occasionally with some reddish, but lacking the light-coloured sections usually seen in its close relative, the northern Luzon giant cloud rat. The southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat is a large rodent that has a total length of about 67–75 cm (26–30 in) and weighs 1.45–2.1 kg (3.2–4.6 lb).
Phloeomys, the slender-tailed cloud rats, is a genus of large rodents in the family Muridae. Both species in this genus are endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Although their tail is covered by hairs, it is considerably less dense and shorter than in the rarer bushy-tailed cloud rats that also inhabit the Philippines.
The northern Luzon giant cloud rat or northern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat, also known as bu-ot in Filipino, is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is only found in Luzon, the Philippines.
The bushy-tailed jird or bushy-tailed dipodil is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus Sekeetamys. It is found in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan. Its natural habitat is rocky areas.
Solomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae. These large rats, which are all seriously threatened, are native to the Solomon Islands.
The Ugi naked-tailed rat is a poorly known and possibly extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is known from a single specimen collected on Ugi Island in the Solomon Islands.
The Rossel Island melomys is a species of rodent from the family Muridae. It is endemic to Rossel Island in Papua New Guinea, but Flannery (1955) presumed that "it did exist previously on other islands of the group, but has become extinct on all except Rossel." For many years it was seen as a subspecies of the white-bellied mosaic-tailed rat, but is now considered a distinct species. It is listed as data deficient by the IUCN Red List in light of little information on "population status, ecological requirements, and threats". The Rossel Island melomys has not been officially recorded since 1956, but its habitat is still in good condition. The IUCN lists determining population status of the melomys as a "high priority".
