275.

Bougainville Mosaic-tailed Rat

Melomys bougainville

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

Other common names: Bougainville Island Melomys, Bougainville Melomys

Taxonomy. Melomys bougainuville Troughton, 1936,

Buin, Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands.

Initially considered a subspecies of M. rufescens, M. bougainville was elevated to species rank by T. F. Flannery and S. Wickler in 1990, and according to J. I. Menzies in 1996 it belongs to the M. rufescens division and, as demonstrated by K. M. Helgen in 2003, shows similarities to M. rufescens, M. matambuai, and M. pavel.. Monotypic.

Distribution. Bougainville I and Buka I (Papua New Guinea) and Choiseul I (Solomon Is).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 149-170 mm, tail 98-140, ear 14—15-5 mm, hindfeet 27-5-28-5 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. This medium-sized, broad-footed Melomys seems very similar to the Black-tailed Mosaic-tailed Rat ( M. rufescens) of Duke of York Island, but is the smallest Melomys species and is characterized by a bright yellowish-red dorsalpelage and ivory-colored or buffy-white ventral one. Tail, which has one very small hair pertail scale,is shorter than head-body length, and semi-prehensile. Females have two pairs of mammae.

Habitat. Disturbed habitats, rural gardens, and possibly within houses.

Food and Feeding. Diet is composed of plantain banana.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Little is known, but it issuspected that the Bougainville Mosaic-tailed Rat has similar habits to those of the Black-tailed Mosaic-tailed Rat.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Bougainville Mosaic-tailed Rat lacks ecological information and taxonomic studies to assess its validity.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995a), Flannery & Wickler (1990), Helgen (2003), Menzies (1996), Troughton (1936a).