Melomys mollis Thomas, 1913

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 : 617-618

Melomys mollis Thomas, 1913 . Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 12:210.

TYPE LOCALITY: New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Nassau Range, upper Utakwa River, S slope Mount Carstenz, Camp Padang, 6c, 5500 ft .

DISTRIBUTION: New Guinea; scattered in montane forest throughout Central Cordillera from Arfak Mtns in Vogelkop of Irian Jaya to Mt Dayman in extreme E Papua New Guinea.

SYNONYMS: arfakianus, clarae, meeki , stevensi.

COMMENTS: Specimens representing M. mollis have been identified as M. levipes in the literature, and the synonyms listed here have also been associated with that species. However, judged by our study of specimens in the American Museum of Natural History and the British Museum of Natural History, Melomys mollis is a distinct species tied to montane forest formations and differs from M. levipes in habitat and morphology. Specimens from W Irian Jaya are more darkly pigmented than those from E Papua, but series from Papuan Central and Eastern highlands bridge this chromatic gap.