179.

Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat

Crateromys heaneyi

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

Other common names: Panay Cloud Runner, Panay Crateromys

Taxonomy. Crateromys heaneyi Gonzales & Kennedy, 1996,

“within or near cordinates 11°01’N, 122°14’E from the southwestern side of greater Mount Baloy, 25-30 km northeast of the municipality of San Remigio and 12-16 km east-northeast of the municipality of Valderrama, in Barangay Maytawis, municipality of San Remigio, Antique Province in western Panay, Philippines.”

Based on its morphology this recently described species is closer in appearance to C. schadenbergi than to other Crateromys . However, a 2015 molecular study by D. S. Balete and colleagues found this species to be sister to a clade including Batomys uragon and B. grantii, thereby rendering Batomys paraphyletic. Further studies including nuclear genes are required to verify the relationships between these two genera. Monotypic.

Distribution. Endemic to Panay I, Philippines.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 279-280 mm, tail 300-340 mm, ear 20-24 mm, hindfoot 60-67 mm; weight 930-1042 g. The Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Ratis a large rat with thick, soft fur, a slender and elongated body, and a chubby, short, and pointed face. Dorsal pelage is grizzled grayish brown with longer dark guard hairs that range from dark umbra brown to black and dark gray underfur. Guard hairs form a slight nuchal crest on neck and guard hairs on the rump have a burnt umbra gray base with a paler golden tip. There is significant variation in pelage coloration, particularly in the amount and area in which gray patches occur and whether or not a brown line is visible on the venter. Chin and throat are brownish gray and there is a darker brown stripe down the middle of the neck, chest, and abdomen. There is an area of dark naked skin around the eyes. Ventral pelage is a similar color to the dorsal pelage, a dark umbra brown. There are also patches of pale gray on the cheeks, behind the eyes, and on the shoulders. Tail is longer (c.115%) than head-body length, heavily furred, and a grizzled grayish brown like the dorsal pelage. Ears are short, rounded, and well furred. Vibrissae are long. Feet are broad and furred dorsally with five plantar pads on forefeet and six on hindfeet; claws are a pale ivory color. Skull is gracile and smaller than in the Luzon Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat ( C. schadenbergi) but larger than the other two species of Crateromys . Nasals are broad and short. Females have two pairs of mammae, both inguinal, and an elongated urinary papilla that looks similar to a penis sheath that all Phloeomyini possess.

Habitat. Collected from lowland tropical primary and secondary evergreen rainforest formations. Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rats probably occurat elevations up to ¢.400 m.

Food and Feeding. The Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Ratis herbivorous, feeding on leaves, fruits, seeds, roots, and flowers ofvarious plants. Natives report that wild animals feed on various fruits, including bananas ( Musa), guavas ( Psidium guajava), young corn ( Zea mays), and papaya (Carica papaya), and the leaves of various trees and shrubs. Another

study reported that wild individuals feed on Garcinia linearifolia, the fruit of fig trees ( Ficus), mangos ( Mangifera indica), bananas, and guavas, and the roots of sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas). A study observing captive individuals found that they preferred cabbage leaves ( Brassica oleoracea) and bananas. Bananas were peeled before eaten. They also would take fresh leaves of red mulberry ( Morus rubra), and sunflower ( Helianthus) seeds when available. They drank water infrequently and in small quantities, probably getting most of the water they needed from their diet. Food is held in the incisors when being transported but are held in either one or both paws when being consumed, depending on thesize of the food object, also turning the food around to eat from different points on the object. Smaller foods are eaten by being picked up directly with the mouth.

Breeding. Based on local observations of females with young, Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rats are said to breed year-round and have littersizes of one or two. Young are possibly reared jointly by the male and female, although this has yet to be confirmed. Observations of captive animals reported a female (which had been mistaken for a male) that had engaged in the copulatory behavior of males; this female ended upgiving birth to a single female, which was found dead in the cage about a day old. Males in captivity would frequently attempt to mount females if given the chance.

Activity patterns. The Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat is nocturnal. During the day it stays in holes inside trunks of large trees. It is a good climber but moves slowly except when pursued. Nests are reported from holes of old trees and inside big tree ferns ( Cyatheaceae), but the species is also reported to rest in holes in the ground between tree roots. In one study, nest sights were reported from 19 different trees: Bischofiajavanica, Canarium asperum, Citrus macrophylla, three species of Ficus, Hydnocarpus heterophylla, Leea sp., Mangifera indica, Plerospermum diversifolium, and Ziziphus talanai. Some nests were dome-shaped and composed of twigs and leaves built into the branches of Bischofia, Mangifera, and Citrus trees. All the nests located in the study had varying amounts of dried grass and shredded leaves in them.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat lives eithersolitarily, ina male-female pair, or in a family group consisting of the female and her young (1-2) or a male and a female with the young. Males and females will curl up together in nests when resting. In captive individuals (two males and a female in the same cage), there was stand off aggression and scratch and biting that occurred between two males. After fighting, the two remained wary of each other whenever they interacted. Males and females regularly touched noses, and the male would make whirring growls until their noses touched after an aggressive display with another male. After touching noses, they stood on their hindlegs and faced each other, ultimately ending with the female behind the male sniffer his genitals. This apparently resulted in three semi-aggressive encounters before the female went away. The female was allowed to wander throughout the territory of this particular male. The female would also go into the other malesterritory freely, regularly curling up with it as well and having touched noses twice. Three vocalizations were heard; a grunting sound when humans approached for the first few days, which was replaced by an almost inaudible “pssst” that was often heard during feeding, and the previously mentioned whirling growls that the male made during aggressive displays and when it felt threatened from the female as it approached.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Panay Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat occurs in a very small area in a very degraded environment. It is largely threatened by habitat destruction from logging and agricultural expansion in lowland regions, as well as some hunting, although this does not seem to affect the species much. There is a captive breeding program that numbered 45 individuals in 2005 in the Mar-it Conservation Park and they are found in some zoos (including the London Zoo) outside of the Philippines.

Bibliography. Balete et al. (2015), Gonzales & Kennedy (1996), Heaney et al. (1999), Kennerley (2017a), Musser & Carleton (2005), Oliver et al. (1993), Schweigert (1998).