| Guadalcanal rat | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Uromys |
| Species: | U. porculus |
| Binomial name | |
| Uromys porculus Thomas, 1904 | |
The Guadalcanal rat (Uromys porculus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was found only in the Solomon Islands. Since this species was collected between 1886 and 1888 it has not been seen again. [1] It is possibly extinct. [1]
The only known skull of the Guadalcanal rat is clearly elongate and narrow, but has the molars so worn that few details of the crown remain. [2] [3] The details in the skull are described as similar to other members of the genus Uromys, specifically Uromys rex and Uromus imperator. The species also had a very short tail, indicating it was possibly terrestrial. [2]
The only known specimen of Guadacanal rat was described in 1904 by Oldfield Thomas, although it was most likely collected at or around the same time as similar species Uromys rex and Uromus imperator in the late 1880s. The species was registered in 1889 and was collected by Charles Morris Woodford at Aola village in the Solomon Islands. [4]
The species has not been seen since this collection and there is no local knowledge of the species, indicating it is most likely extinct. [1]
When it was first named in 1904 by Oldfield Thomas, the Guadacanal rat was described as a species of Uromys. Later, it was transferred to Melomys, [3] before being placed once again in Uromys, [5] once more in Melomys, [5] until it was returned to Uromys where it is currently placed. [6] [7]
The Solomon Islands rain forests are a terrestrial ecoregion covering the Solomon Islands archipelago.
Uromys is a genus of rodents found in Melanesia and Australia. They are known as the giant naked-tailed rats. There are eleven species in the genus, with the most recent described in 2017.
The white-toothed brush mouse, also known as the white-toothed melomys or white-toothed mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in West Papua, Indonesia. It is the only species in genus Brassomys. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland.
The Bramble Cay melomys, or Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae and subfamily Murinae. It was an endemic species of the isolated Bramble Cay, a low-lying vegetated coral cay with a habitable area of approximately 5 acres located at the northern tip of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Described by researchers as having last been seen in 2009 and declared extinct by the Queensland Government and University of Queensland researchers in 2016, it was formally declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in May 2015 and the Australian government in February 2019. Having been the only mammal endemic to the reef, its extinction was described as the first extinction of a mammal species due to anthropogenic climate change.
The Ethiopian amphibious rat, also known as the Ethiopian water mouse, is an insectivorous and semiaquatic species of rodent in the monotypic genus Nilopegamys of the family Muridae. There has only been one known specimen. It was found along the Lesser Abay River near its source at an altitude of 2600 m in the highlands of northwestern Ethiopia in 1928. N. plumbeus is considered to be the most aquatically adapted African murid; its unusually large brain is thought to be one consequence of this lifestyle. The species is considered to be critically endangered or possibly extinct, since its habitat has been severely damaged by overgrazing and monoculture.
The Ghana rufous-nosed rat, also known as the West African Oenomys, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland and seasonally flooded agricultural land, it has also been observed in secondary high forest habitat.
Oryzomys gorgasi, also known as Gorgas's oryzomys or Gorgas's rice rat, is a rodent in the genus Oryzomys of family Cricetidae. First recorded in 1967, it is known from only a few localities, including a freshwater swamp in the lowlands of northwestern Colombia and a mangrove islet in northwestern Venezuela. It reportedly formerly occurred on the island of Curaçao off northwestern Venezuela; this extinct population has been described as a separate species, Oryzomys curasoae, but does not differ morphologically from mainland populations.
The Mount Elgon vlei rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Mount Elgon, an extinct volcano on the border between west-central Kenya and south-eastern Uganda. As of 2021, it is considered near threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and is under threat from fires and unsustainable resource extraction by humans.
The dusky rat is an indigenous species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Australia.
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 emperor rat is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. It is classified as critically endangered by the IUCN but is likely already extinct.
The Solomon Archipelago is a terrestrial ecoregion and marine ecoregion in the Pacific Ocean. It includes the tropical ocean waters surrounding most of the Solomon Islands archipelago, and includes Bougainville Island and Buka Island of Papua New Guinea and their surrounding waters.
The king rat, or rat king, is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Like the two other species of rodent in Guadalcanal, it is placed in the genus Uromys. It lives in trees and is larger than Uromys porculus but smaller than Uromys imperator.
The Guadalcanal monkey-faced bat or Guadalcanal flying monkey is a megabat endemic to Solomon Islands. It is listed as an endangered species. In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation.
The Biak Island uromys or Biak giant rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is known only from a single specimen collected on the Indonesian island of Biak.
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".
The Vangunu giant rat, locally known as the vika, is a giant arboreal species of rodent in the family Muridae. The rat was discovered in the island of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands in 2015, after years of searching based on local stories, and described in 2017. It was identified as a new species on the basis of its skull, skeleton and a detailed DNA analysis. The single individual initially collected from a felled tree measured 46 cm (18 in) long, weighed between 0.5 and 1.0 kg and had orange-brown fur. Its diet is believed to include thick-shelled nuts like ngali nuts and coconuts, and probably fruits. The species is likely to be designated critically endangered, due to the small amount of forest habitat remaining on the island and ongoing logging. In 2021, the species was observed in the wild for the first time, with at least four individuals being observed via camera trap in Vangunu's last remaining lowland primary forest. They are highly threatened by proposed logging plans for their remaining habitat.
Hydromyini is a very large, diverse tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. They are the dominant native rodents in Australasia and one of only two native rodent groups there, the other being the R. fuscipes group of the genus Rattus in the tribe Rattini. They are also found in parts of Southeast Asia.
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