Paramelomys moncktoni (Thomas 1904)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1433

Paramelomys moncktoni (Thomas 1904)

[Crossomys] moncktoni Thomas 1904 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 14: 399.

Type Locality: Papua New Guinea, Northern Province, NE coast, 8°30'S, 148°20'E (Kumusi River).

Vernacular Names: Monckton's Paramelomys.

Synonyms: Paramelomys sturti ( Tate 1951) .

Distribution: Papua New Guinea; reliable records are from coastal plains and foothills (sea level to 1400 m) of SE Papua New Guinea, from Wewak on the NE coast eastward to S lowlands where westernmost record is from Sturt Isl camp on the lower Fly River (from our study of specimens, and Menzies, 1996); also on Sideia Isl, just off the E coast near Milne Bay. Flannery (1995 b) recorded a specimen from Yapen Isl in NW Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) and mapped two localities on the mainland of SW Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) (Flannery, 1995 a); these should be reexamined to determine if the former is a P. platyops and the latter P. lorentzii , or if indeed they are P. moncktoni .

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Melomys moncktoni .

Discussion: Horizontal and altitudinal distributions of this species have been misunderstood due to incorrect identifications of specimens. Paramelomys moncktoni was thought to have a primarily southern distribution from Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) to Papua New Guinea, and to extend up into moss forest (see map and discussion in Flannery, 1990 b:225), but all samples from moss forest represent other species. Examples of P. moncktoni come only from the restricted range described above (based upon series in AMNH and BMNH; also see Menzies, 1996).

The forms intermedius and shawi are usually associated with P. moncktoni ( Flannery, 1990 b; Laurie and Hill, 1954; Tate, 1951, under Melomys ), but the holotype of shawi is a P. rubex and the type series of intermedius belongs to P. platyops (Musser’s study of specimens and Menzies, 1996). Musser and Carleton (1993) incorrectly allocated sturti to P. lorentzii , and Menzies (1996) correctly reassociated it with P. moncktoni . Possibly the E New Guinea ecological and phylogenetic equivalent of the SW New Guinea P. lorentzii .