Uromys anak albiventer, Groves & Flannery, 1994

Groves, C. P. & Flannery, Tim F., 1994, A revision of the genus Uromys Peters, 1867 (Muridae: Mammalia) with descriptions of two new species, Records of the Australian Museum 46 (2), pp. 145-169 : 155

Uromys anak albiventer n.subsp.

Figs 6 , 7 , Table 1

Type material. HOLOTYPE, CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology , Canberra no. CM.8532, adult male, skin and skull, from Uinba, Kubor Range, Papua New Guinea. Collected on 22 June 1963.

Diagnosis. Distinguished from other subspecies as follows: i) coat more brown-toned; ii) venter much more broadly white, from throat to groin; iii) teeth smaller.

Discussion. From Upper Bubu River region, as far west apparently as the Weyland Range. Of two specimens from Saiko, Bubu River, in the BM, one is entirely typical of this subspecies, while the other has the ventral white restricted as in nominotypical anak . In the Discriminant Analysis, both specimens fall with the present subspecies.

To this subspecies belong a series of seven specimens (6 skins with skulls, 1 skull only) in the British Museum (Natural History), from the Kratke Mountains (Buntibasa, Kuraka, Apimuri) and east of the Hagen Range (Degabaga, Menebe). Certain other specimens may yet turn out to represent distinctive subspecies. These are from Lamende Range, near Mount Giluwe, and from Telefomin and Mount Elimbari. The Mount Giluwe specimen (BM 53.370) has the largest skull seen by us; the molars are however very small (molar row length 12.2 mm), and the tail is short (106% of head and body). The dorsal colouration is dark, and the venter has no white, being all grey; in these features it resembles U. a. rothschildi. The two Telefomin specimens are very small in size, but have large teeth. Five specimens from Mount Elimbari are also rather small in size, but have small teeth, and relatively long tails and ears. Only further material will allow us confidently to determine the nature of these variant populations.

Figures

Fig. 6. Comparison of skins of A, Uromys anak anak (CSIRO 12337) and B, U. a. albiventer (CSIRO 8532).

Fig. 7. Comparison of skulls of A, U. a. anak (CSIRO 12337) and B, U. a. albiventer (CSIRO 8532).