697.

Halmahara Rat

Rattus morotaiensis

French: Rat de Morotai / German: Molukken-Ratte / Spanish: Rata de Halmahara

Other common names: Moluccan Prehensile-tailed Rat

Taxonomy. Rattus morotaiensis Kellogg, 1945,

“Morotai Island, Gilolo Group, Netherlands East Indies [= Indonesia].”

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. Morotai, Halmahera, and Bacan Is, Moluccas, Indonesia, and perhaps surrounding islands in entire archipelago (e.g. Ternate).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 120-215 mm, tail 165-224 mm, ear 17-22 mm, hindfoot 30-41 mm; weight 86-159 g. The Halmahara Rat is mediumtolarge-sized, with spiny fur and dark rufous brown color.It is characterized by dark tail 109-126%of head-body length, scantily haired, and slightly tufted at tip; long hindfeet relative to head-body length; palatal bridge moderately extending beyond M’; well-developed postorbital ridge; temporal ridge developed toward nuchal crest; moderately wide zygomatic notch; short and narrow rostrum; laterally, space between zygomatic root and maxilla and sphenoid bones; nearly flat top of skull laterally between nasal and occipital (or slightly curved between interparietal and frontal); zygomatic arch laterally up to level of upper molar row; posterior palatine foramina placed between M? and M?; shortjugular process; in palatal view, squamosal root of zygomatic arch position slightly overlapping tympanic bulla; in palatal view, zygomatic root of zygomatic arch not reaching or just overlapping with level of M'; very short eustachian tube; post-glenoid vacuity fused with middle lacerate foramen; basisphenoid that seems to be suspended in spheno-palatine vacuity; posteriorly, short incisive foramina that reach front of M' or not, depending of specimen; angular process not extending after posterior part ofarticulation condyle and not very developed; orange and orthodont incisors; narrow incisor blade, inferior toits longest basal width; no cusp t7 on M'; postererocone present on M' (and more developed on all specimens from Halmahera); cusp t3 on M? (absent on some specimens from Halmahera); no tl bis on M'; cusp tl of M' placed just below level ofcusps t2 and t3; wide cingular margins on M?; large peglike antero-labial and antero-lingual cusplets on m; anteroand postero-labial cusplets always present on m,; anteroand postero-labial cusplets always present on m,; anterolabial cusplets always present on m,; and crenulated enamel on all molars. There arefive pairs of mammae: one pectoral, one post-axillary, and three inguinal.

Habitat. Primary and secondary forest and close to human settlements from sea level to elevations of ¢.1000 m.

Food and Feeding. The Halmahara Rat is probably omnivorous.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Halmahara Rat is nocturnal and probably scansorial or semiarboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. More taxonomical and ecological studies are required for this poorly known species.

Bibliography. Fabre et al. (2013), Flannery (1995a), Helgen (2003), Kellogg (1945a), Musser & Carleton (2005).