777.

Christina’s Margareta Rat

Margaretamys christinae

French: Rat de Christina / German: Christina-Margareta-Ratte / Spanish: Rata margarita de Christina

Other common names: Christina's Margaretamys

Taxonomy. Margaretamys christinae Mortelliti et al., 2012,

south slope of Gunung Mo- serosero, Pegunungan Mekongga, Sulawesi Tenggara, south-eastern Sulawesi.

In the phylogenetic study by M. Pages and colleagues in 2016, M. christinae was sister to M. elegans . Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from type locality in SE Sulawesi.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 111 mm, tail 175 mm, hindfoot 20 mm, ear 24-5 mm; weight 49 g. rm S im Rat is similar in size to the Lesser Margareta Rat ( M. parvus). Pelage is long, soft, and dense. Dorsum is reddish brown. Underparts are grayish yellow, but chin and throat are grayish white. There is no indication of a facial mask. Feet are brown with white digits. Whiskers are very long. Tail is 158% of headbody length, with hairs increasing toward distinctly tufted tip. Proximal two-thirds of tail is grayish brown, and distal part is white. Three hairs emerge from each tail scale.

Habitat. Lower and upper montane rainforest at an elevations of 1537 m. Holotype was captured 1-5 m off the ground a few hundred meters from a trail used by local hunters. The area was characterized by interspersed patches ofprimary and secondary forest at the beginning of tropical lower montane forest.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. Christina’s Margareta Rat is believed to be nocturnal because holotype was trapped at night. That single rat was captured on Pegunungan Mekongga with the Common Hill Rat ( Bunomys chrysocomus), Montane Hill Rat ( Bunomys penitus), Giant Sulawesi Rat ( Paruromys dominator), Maxomys sp. (undescribed), and the endemic squirrel, the Secretive Dwarf Squirrel (Prosciurillus abstrusus).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. Christina’s Margareta Rat is likely threatened by logging.

Bibliography. Mortelliti et al. (2012), Musser (2014), Pages et al. (2016).