Melomys frigicola, Tate, 1951

Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier & Thomas E. Lacher, Jr, 2017, Muridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 7 Rodents II, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 536-884 : 696-697

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6887260

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6807375

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/1E30E275-3446-FFF6-E496-2512740682AF

treatment provided by

Carolina

scientific name

Melomys frigicola
status

 

269.

Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat

Melomys frigicola View in CoL

French: Mélomys des Snow / German: Schneegebirge-Mosaikschwanzratte / Spanish: Rata de cola moteada de Sudirnam

Other common names: Snow Mountains Grassland Melomys

Taxonomy. Melomys lutillus frigicola Tate, 1951 View in CoL ,

“Bele River, 18 kilometers north of Lake Habbema, near Mt. Wilhelmina, Netherlands New Guinea [= Papua, Indo-nesia], 2200 meters.”

Originally considered a subspecies of M. lutillus , M. frigicola was elevated to species rank in 1996 by J. I. Menzies, who included it, as well as M. lutillus , in the “ M. cervinipes division.” P. H. Fabre and colleagues in 2017 also described some

characters for this species. Monotypic.

Distribution. N slopes of the Snow (= Sudirman) Mts and nearby Baliem River, WC New Guinea. View Figure

Descriptive notes. Head-body 101-135 mm, tail 122-136 mm, ear 12-14 mm, hindfeet 23-29 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat is a small-sized Melomys . Upperparts are yellow brown, with gray-buff to pure white ventral coloration. Tail is of about same size as orslightly longer than head-body length.

Habitat. Secondary forests and grasslands between 600 m and 2200 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information

.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat is probably common and has a large distribution. It is, however, very poorly known.

Bibliography. Fabre, Fitriana et al. (2017), Menzies (1996), Tate (1951).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Melomys

Loc

Melomys frigicola

Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier & Thomas E. Lacher, Jr 2017
2017
Loc

Melomys lutillus frigicola

Tate 1951
1951
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