178.

Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat

Crateromys australis

French: Crateromys de Dinagat / German: Dinagat-Borkenratte / Spanish: Rata de cola peluda de Dinagat

Other common names: Dinagat Crateromys, Dinagat Hairy-tailed Cloud Rat, Dinagat Island Cloud Rat

Taxonomy. Crateromys australis Musser, Heaney & Rabor, 1985,

“Balitbiton, Loreto Municipality, Dinagat Island, Surigao del Norte Province, Republic of the Philippines.”

Described on the basis of a single specimen that was very different from other Crateromys; it bears some characters of Batomys . Further study and more specimens required. Monotypic.

Distribution. Dinagat I, Philippines; possibly also on Siargao and Bucas Grande Is, as well as some other small nearby Is.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 265 mm,tail 281 mm, hindfoot 54 mm. No specific data are available for ear lengthor body weight. The Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Ratis a unique and large species of giant cloud rat that is smaller than the Luzon Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat ( C. schadenbergi) but larger than the Ilin Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat ( C. paulus). Pelage is long and slightly rough but not coarse and stiff with black guard hairs barely extending beyond the fur and gray underfur dorsally. Dorsal pelage is an orangish tawny peppered with black. The ventral pelage, which is thin and short, is pale orangish brown and is not sharply demarcated from the dorsal pelage. There is a ring of darkly pigmented skin surrounding the eye that is covered in short and pale brown hairs. Tail is long (c.106%

of head-body length) and tricolored, being an orangish tawny at the base with the remainder black with awhite tip. Hairs oftail are short and stiff but plentiful. Ears are small, rounded, and dark, being covered in short brown hairs near the top but unfurred at the bottom. Feet are broad with well developed tubercles and a covering of dark brown fur dorsally. Skull is large and chunky with a moderately long rostrum, a narrow interorbital region without dorsolateral ridges or beading, a squarish braincase with indistinct temporal ridges, a small interparietal, a slight sygomatic notch, a bony palate ending anterior to the back margins of the third molars, and small bullae relative to cranialsize.

Habitat. The type specimen was captured in disturbed lowland forest, near a logging road while a more recent specimen was observed in the canopy of dense tangled foliage of secondary forest.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rats are probably arboreal and nocturnal, considering a specimen that was videotaped and photographed just after sunset.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat was originally known from a single specimen, although a specimen was photographed and videotaped in 2012 and there are supposedly two other specimens that have been recently collected from San Jose and Loreto on Dinagat. They may have a more extensive distribution on the nearby islands of Siargao and Bucas Grande, as well as other nearby islands. There are reports of similar rats to the Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat on Siargao. They are probably threatened by extensive habitat loss from logging throughout their distribution, as well as agricultural expansion and chromite mining in the region. The specimen collected in San Jose was likely kept as a pet, which may also affect the species, although this is less likely. The type locality is located within and Important Bird Area, although there is significant political instability in the region the species occurs, and conservation action is needed, although difficult with this instability. The conservation ofthis species is in severejeopardy and further research is drastically needed on its ecology, taxonomy, and threats, as well as further survey son Dinagat, Siargao, and Bucas Grande to determineits exact distribution.

Bibliography. Kennerley (2017b), Musser & Carleton (2005), Musser et al. (1985), Oliver et al. (1993), Pedregosa-Hospodarsky (2009), Rehakova etal. (2015).