270.

Riama Island Mosaic-tailed Rat

Melomys howi

French: Mélomys de How / German: Riama-Mosaikschwanzratte / Spanish: Rata de cola moteada de Riama

Other common names: Riama Island Melomys

Taxonomy. Melomys howi Kitchener, 1996,

Riama Island, Tanimbar Islands, Moluc-cas, Indonesia.

G. G.Musser and M. D. Carleton in 2005 found M. howi to be similar to some M. cf. lutillus from Papua New Guinea and suggested that it belonged to the M. cervinipes group, including M. bannisteri, M. fraterculus, M. lutillus, and M. obiensis . In their 2017 morphometric analysis on skulls, P H. Fabre and colleagues found M. how: associated with a group coon of M. burtoni, M. cervinipes, M. cooperae, M. fraterculus, M. frigicola, M. lutillus, and also “ M. burton ?” from Halmahera. Monotypic.

Distribution. Riama I, S Moluccas, Indonesia.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 111-112 mm, tail 135-137, ear 15-2—15-5 mm, hindfeet 26-27 mm; weight 61-73 g. The Riama Island Mosaic-tailedRat is a Melomys of small body mass. Upperparts are tawny (yellow brown), head is cinnamon, and ventral area is grayish buff to pure white. Tail is of about same size as or slightly longer (121-123%) than head-body length, the scales flat and not sculptured, with three hairs per scale, andtail is bicolored, glaucous dorsally and pale gray ventrally. Feet are broad. There is a dark ring around eyes. Females have two pairs of mammae.

Habitat. Open low bushes beneath the patches of Casuarina (Casuarinaceae) trees 5 m tall, on coastal areas from sea level to 200 m.

Food and Feeding. Riama Island Mosaic-tailed Rats have been seen to eat seeds in leaf litter beneath shrubs.

Breeding. One female was pregnant with two embryos, and another lactating and with two placentalscars.

Activity patterns. Riama Island Mosaic-tailed Rats are diurnal and terrestrial.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. A group of 10-15 individuals was observed feeding by day for one hour in an area of ¢.5 m®, Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient in The IUCN Red List owing to absence of recent information on its distribution, threats, status, and ecology. The Riama Island Mosaic-tailed Rat is known only from three specimensat the type locality.

Bibliography. Fabre, Fitriana et al. (2017), Kitchener & Suyanto (1996), Musser & Carleton (2005).