Panay cloudrunner

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Panay cloudrunner
Krysa Heaneyova 1.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Crateromys
Species:
C. heaneyi
Binomial name
Crateromys heaneyi
Gonzales & Kennedy, 1996
Distribution Crateromys.png
Range in green

The Panay cloudrunner (Crateromys heaneyi) 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.

Contents

Discovery

The Panay cloudrunner was discovered by western science in 1987, and was described as a new species in 1996 by Robert Kennedy of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Pedro Gonzales of the National Museum of the Philippines. The late date of discovery was because the lack of forest cover on Panay which led to the island being largely ignored by biologists. [2]

Description

The Panay cloudrunner is a little over 600 mm long, with grizzled greyish-brown fur and a long, bushy tail making up more than half of the body length. It weighs around 1 kilogram. [3]

Habits

The cloudrunner is nocturnal and arboreal, and nests during the day in the hollow of a large tree. Its diet includes bananas, guavas, corn, papayas, and assorted leaves. [3] [4]

Conservation

Continued deforestation on the island of Panay is the major threat to this species, and the animal is now confined to remnant forest in a mountain range on the western end of the island. [3]

Related Research Articles

Murinae Subfamily of rodents

The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the rodents.

Ilin Island cloudrunner Species of rodent

The Ilin Island cloudrunner is a critically endangered cloud rat from 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. It is known from one specimen, collected on 4 April 1953, and 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 Global Wildlife Conservation’s “Search for Lost Species” initiative.

Sommer's Sulawesi rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae from Sulawesi. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Sommeromys and was described by Musser & Durden in 2002.

Cloud rat Group of rodents

The cloud rats or cloudrunners are a group of arboreal and nocturnal herbivorous rodents endemic to the cloud forests of the Philippines. Biologically, it is a clade belonging to the family Muridae and includes 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.

Large Mindoro forest mouse Species of rodent

The large Mindoro forest mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, from the genus Apomys. It is found only in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is a large mouse with large feet, a long tail and an elongated snout which is morphologically unique within its genus. It is covered in soft fur which is mostly dark brown in colour. Its closest relative is thought to be the Luzon montane forest mouse, based on genetic and morphological similarities.

Short-footed Luzon tree rat Species of rodent

The short-footed Luzon tree rat or greater 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.

Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat Species of rodent

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 is 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.

<i>Crateromys</i> Genus of rodents

Crateromys is a genus of rodent, native to the Philippines, in the family Muridae. It contains four species extant species, and one extinct species.

Giant bushy-tailed cloud rat Species of rodent

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.

Bushy-tailed woodrat Species of rodent

The bushy-tailed woodrat, or packrat is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae found in Canada and the United States. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, temperate forests, dry savanna, temperate shrubland, and temperate grassland.

Southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat Species of rodent

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).

<i>Phloeomys</i> Genus of rodents

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.

Northern Luzon giant cloud rat Species of rodent

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.

Pack rat Genus of rodents

A pack rat or packrat, also called a woodrat or trade rat, can be any of the species in the rodent genus Neotoma. Pack rats have a rat-like appearance, with long tails, large ears, and large, black eyes. Pack rats are noticeably larger than deer mice, harvest mice, and grasshopper mice, and are usually somewhat larger than cotton rats.

Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat Species of rodent

The Hamiguitan hairy-tailed rat is one of five species of rodent in the genus Batomys. It is in the diverse family Muridae. This species is found only in the Philippines. is a yellow-brown animal with a long furry tail, weighs about 175 grams, and is related to several other species known in Central Mindanao, Dinagat Island and Luzon. It lives only in an area that's at least 950 meters high, and in dwarf mossy forests less than 10 square kilometers.

Balbalasang–Balbalan National Park

Balbalasang–Balbalan National Park is a protected area of the Philippines located in the municipality of Balbalan, Kalinga in the Cordillera Administrative Region. The park covers an area of 1,338 hectares and is centered on Mount Balbalasang in the barangay of the same name near the provincial border with Abra. Dubbed the "green heart of the Cordillera", the park is representative of the rich biodiversity and landscape of this mountain region with some of the most intact pine forests and richly endemic flora and fauna. It was declared a national park in 1972 by virtue of Republic Act No. 6463.

Sunda leopard cat Small wild cat

The Sunda leopard cat is a small wild cat species native to the Sundaland islands of Java, Bali, Borneo, Sumatra and the Philippines that is considered distinct from the leopard cat occurring in mainland South and Southeast Asia.

Lawrence Richard Heaney is an American mammalogist, ecologist and biogeographer. His research focus is the mammals of the Philippines.

Mindanao–Eastern Visayas rain forests

The Mindanao-Eastern Visayas rain forests ecoregion covers the lowland rain forests of the island of Mindanao and of the easternmost of the Visayas Islands in the Philippines. Although 63% of this ecoregion is covered with closed broadleaf evergreen forest or open forest, much of this has been disturbed in the past by human activity, and many of the rare species of the area have been relegated to the isolated areas or higher elevations.

References

  1. Kennerley, R. (2017). "Crateromys heaneyi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T5502A22415343. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T5502A22415343.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. The latest in science and technology news, blogs and articles – Where the Running Rodents Play. Discover Magazine (1997-01-01). Retrieved on 2012-12-28.
  3. 1 2 3 Panay bushy-tailed cloud rat (Crateromys heaneyi). ARKive. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.
  4. Panay Cloudrunner. Encarta