Melomys obiensis (Thomas 1911)

[Melomys] obiensis (Thomas 1911), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 7: 208.

Type Locality: Indonesia, Malukus, Pulau Obi.

Vernacular Names: Obi Island Melomys.

Distribution: Endemic to Obi and Bisa, Isls, south of Halmahera (Flannery, 1995 b; Helgen, 2003 b).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Judged by morphological traits, possibly a close relative of M. fraterculus from Seram, and more closely related to Australian Melomys cervinipes than to any New Guinea species, an observation gleaned from Musser’s study of specimens and earlier recorded by Tate (1951:297).