768.

Tambusisi Hill Rat

Bunomys prolatus

French: Bunomys de Musser / German: Tambusisi-Sulawesi-Bergratte / Spanish: Rata de colina de Tambusisi Other common names: Long-headed Hill Rat, Tambusisi Bunomys

Taxonomy. Bunomys prolatus Musser, 1991,

Gunung Tambusisi, 6000 ft (= 1830 m), central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Bunomys prolatus is in the B. chrysocomus species group within Bunomys and is sister to B. torajae . Monotypic.

Distribution. Mt Tambusisi, EC Sulawesi.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 156-179 mm, tail 125-142 mm, ear 24-26 mm, hindfoot 33-35 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Tambusisi Hill Rat is medium-sized, very robust bodied, and long faced, with long, dense, and soft pelage. Dorsum is tawny brownish gray or burnished dark brownish gray, having dark gray hairs tipped with black bands, dark buff bands, or ending in subterminal black bands and buffy tips. Venteris not distinctly demarcated from dorsum, fading from sides, and is slightly lighter buffy gray (in tawny morph), pale buff, or brighter buff (darker morph), some with tannish gray or dark gray with silver frosting or whitish buff overlay. Feet are long and slender, with large darkly spotted epidermal scales over dorsal surfaces and darkly spotted digits, giving an overall dark appearance. Ears are brown in tawny individuals, dark brown in dark individuals, and covered with short hair. Claws are very long, ivorycolored and have longer hair around them on hindfeet. Tail is 79% of head-body length, covered in short dark brown or unpigmented hairs, and dorsally and laterally dark brown while being slightly paler, grayish brown, plain white, or white with speckling on distal two-thirds ventrally and having white tip only for the final 2 mm. Skull is elongated.

Habitat. Short and very mossy montane forest formations at an elevation of 1830 m.

Food and Feeding. The Tambusisi Hill Rat probably has a diet similar to the Common Hill Rat ( B. chrysocomus).

Breeding. One captured Tambusisi Hill Rat had onerecent placental scar.

Activity patterns. The Tambusisi Hill Rat is probably terrestrial and nocturnal, although one specimen was caught duringthe day.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Tambusisi Hill Rat is apparently common where it is found, although its distribution is restricted (1063 km?) and threatened by habitat loss from agricultural expansion and logging. It occurs in Morowali Nature Reserve.

Bibliography. Clayton (2016j), Musser (1991, 2014), Musser & Carleton (2005).