249.

Lesser Small-toothed Rat

Macruromys elegans

French: Petit Macruromys / German: Kleine Neuguinea-Kleinzahnratte / Spanish: Rata de dientes pequenos menor

Other common names: Lesser Macruromys, Western Small-toothed Rat

Taxonomy. Macruromys elegans Stein, 1933,

Mount Kunupi, 1400-1800 m, Weyland Range, Province of Papua, West Papua (= Irian Jaya), New Guinea.

G. G. Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005 assigned genus Macruromys to their Pogonomys division. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from type locality on Mt Kunupi, New Guinea; possibly restricted to Weyland Range.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 153-

158 mm, tail 206-220 mm, hindfoot 36-37 mm, ear 15-21 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. This medium-sized rat is much smaller and more gracile than its congener, the Greater Small-toothed Rat ( M. major). Upperparts are grayish with aweak hint of brown, and bases of hairs slaty gray; on the mid-dorsalit is somewhat blackish gray. Underparts are silvery gray with dark bases. Tail is dark above and white below, with yellowish-white tip for the last 50 mm. Mystacial hairs are ¢.70 mm long. The Lesser Small-toothed Rat has relatively small molars, as does the Greater Small-toothed Rat; skull is more or less similar to the latter’s, but smaller and with the paired ridges extending from front of molars to praemaxillae weakly developed (pronounced and sharp-edged in the Greater Small-toothed Rat). Females have four mammae.

Habitat. The Lesser Small-toothed Rat presumably lives in montane forest.

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 Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Exhaustive surveys were carried out in the 1930s and the species was not found elsewhere, but no surveys have been undertaken since then. Further knowledge of any potential dangers could result in a threatened listing. It is not known if the Lesser Small-toothed Rat is present in any protected areas. Further surveys of the original collection site are needed in order to gather more information about this species.

Bibliography. Boitani et al. (2006), Leary, Singadan, Menzies, Wright, Aplin & Helgen (2008b), Menzies & Dennis (1979), Musser & Carleton (2005), Stein (1933), Tate (1951).