Microperoryctes murina, Stein, 1932

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Peramelidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 362-398 : 397

15.

Mouse Bandicoot

Microperoryctes murina

French: Bandicoot souris / German: Weyland-Mausnasenbeutler / Spanish: Bandicut murino

Other common names: Weyland Mouse Bandicoot

Taxonomy. Microperoryctes murina [sic] Stein, 1932 ,

Sumuri Mountain , 2500 m, Weyland Mountains , Paniai Division, Papua Province (= Irian Jaya), Indonesia.

This species was shown to be distinct from the similarsized M. aplini in 2004. Monotypic.

Distribution. Gunung Sumuri, in Weyland Mts, WC New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 15.2-17.4 cm, tail 10.5-11.1 cm; no specific data are available for body weight, but probably c.100 g. This species and the Arfak Pygmy Bandicoot (M. aplini) are smallest peramelids. Furis soft, dark smoky gray, and lacks dark dorsal stripe of all other members of genus;tail is uniformly colored, and lacks white tip that is present on all congeners. Scrotum is furred and grayish white.

Habitat. The three known specimens were collected in montane forest at altitude of 2500 m.

Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species. Early workers noted, however, that the claws are similar to those of similarsized fossorial (digging) mammals and also that the soft fur is reminiscent of that of moles ( Talpidae ) and shrews ( Soricidae ); this may suggest that this bandicoot obtains food such as invertebrates at orjust below ground surface.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The population trend is unknown. This peramelid is known only from three specimens collected in 1931 from Gunung Sumuri, in the Weyland Mountains of west-central New Guinea. As the type locality has not been revisited since 1931, and other potential localities for this species have not been explored,its status remains completely unknown. Surveys of the type locality, adjacent montane forest, and neighboring mountain tops need to be completed before any informed conservation or management decisions can be made.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995a), George & Maynes (1990), Groves (2005c), Helgen & Flannery (2004a), Menzies (2011), Stein (1932), Tate (1948b), Tate & Archbold (1937), Ziegler (1977).

Figures

9. Clara’s Echymipera (Echymupera clara), 10. David’s Echymipera (Echymipera davidi), 11. Menzies’s Echymipera (Echymipera echinista), 12. Common Echymipera (Echymipera kalubu), 13. Long-nosed Echymipera (Echymipera rufescens), 14. Striped Bandicoot (Microperoryctes longicauda), 15. Mouse Bandicoot (Microperoryctes murina), 16. Arfak Pygmy Bandicoot (Microperoryctes aplin), 17. Papuan Bandicoot (Microperoryctes papuensis), 18. Seram Bandicoot (Rhynchomeles prattorum)

Distribution. Gunung Sumuri, in Weyland Mts, WC New Guinea.