Uromys anak Thomas, 1907

Groves, C. P. & Flannery, Tim F., 1994, A revision of the genus Uromys Peters, 1867 (Muridae: Mammalia) with descriptions of two new species, Records of the Australian Museum 46 (2), pp. 145-169 : 154

Uromys anak Thomas, 1907

Type material. HOLOTYPE, BM 7.5 .22.2, adult male skin and skull, from Efogi (9°00'S 147°45'E), Owen Stanley Range at not less than 4,000 ft (1200 m). Collected 2 Oct. 1906 by C.A.W. Monckton.

Revised diagnosis. Uromys anak differs from all species of U. ( Uromys ) except U. neobritannicus and U. boeadii n.sp. in lacking a white tail tip. It differs from U. neobritannicus in its less well-developed postorbital processes, and in having the interorbital region more concave, and in its brown and white mixed underparts. It differs from members of the U. caudimaculatus group in that its tail scales are broader than long, its palatal foramina are short (only 14-19% of palate length), the molars are large (more than 20.5% of condylobasal length); in its less bowed zygomatic arches, larger postorbital processes continued downward as swollen ridges, posteriorly extended nasals, flatter braincase, more flattened auditory bullae, less anteriorly protruding nasals and deeper rostrum.

Notes. The Discriminant Analysis ( Fig. 5 ) shows an almost clean division between samples from Mount Simpson and the Mount Hagen region, and these are here recognised as distinct subspecies. Two specimens from Telefomin and one from Mount Elimbari also stand well apart from the rest. Unfortunately no specimen from the Huon Peninsula is complete enough to enter into the analysis. As a high-altitude species, it is possible that a number of distinctive and semi-isolated subspecies will eventually be discernible.

Figures

Fig. 5. Discriminant analysis of Uromys anak and U. boeadii. The numbers refer to groupings as follows: 1 south-eastern peninsula, mainland Papua New Guinea (u. a. anak), 2 = Mount Erimbari, 3 = Habbema region, 4 = Bubu River (intermediate sample), 5 = Hagen region (u. a. albiventer), 6 Telefomin. Individual specimens from Teri, Rawlinson Range (u. a rothschildi), Okapa (7), Rawlinson Range (8), Tari (9) and Weyland Range (10) are plotted separately, as is the type of U. boeadii (11, which, until this analysis, we had considered a probable subspecies of U. anak). Note that U. boeadii, despite being fitted into a pre-calculated analysis, falls even farther beyond the dispersion of U. anak than does the type of U. emmae from U. caudimaculatus.