Melomys gracilis (Thomas, 1906)

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 616

Melomys gracilis (Thomas, 1906) . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 17:328.

TYPE LOCALITY: E Papua New Guinea, Northern Prov., Angabunga (St Joseph's) River, Owgarra, 1800 m .

DISTRIBUTION: Papua New Guinea; specimens from high altitudes (above 1200 m) along Central Cordillera from Owen Stanley Range (type locality, head of Aroa River, Mt Tafa, Mafulu,) through the Eastern Highlands (Garaina area, Wau region, Kratke Mts, Upper Ramu River Plateau, Okapa area) to the slopes of Mt Hagen (Tomba).

SYNONYMS: dollmani .

COMMENTS: Although usually listed as a subspecies or synonym of M. rufescens ( Flannery, 1990b; Laurie and Hill, 1954; Tate, 1951), M. gracilis is a separate species. It is sympatric with M. rufescens in the Kratke Mts, on the Upper Ramu River Plateau, in the Okapa area, and at Tomba (specimens in the American Museum of Natural History and the British Museum of Natural History).