Rattus giluwensis Hill 1960

705.

Mount Giluwe Rat

Rattus giluwensis French: Rat du Giluwe / German: Giluwe-Ratte / Spanish: Rata de Giluwe Other common names: Giluwe Rat

Taxonomy. Rattus ruber giluwensis Hill, 1960,

Mount Giluwe, 11,000-12,000 feet (= 3350— 3660 m), Papua, north-eastern New Guinea.

Rattus giluwensis is in the Recent New Guinea species group and sister to a clade including R. verecundus, R. praetor, R. steini, and R. novaeguineae. Monotypic.

Distribution. Mt Giulwe and its nearby peaks and Kaijende Highlands, EC New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 136— 187 mm, tail 84=108 mm, hindfoot 28— 32 mm; weight 50-60 g. The Mount Giluwe Rat is small and vole-like, with long, very thick, and soft pelage without spines. Dorsum is rich cinnamon brown, with longer black guard hairs throughout, being more conspicuous toward rump. Juveniles are less richly cinnamon brown, with less developed guard hairs. Dorsal pelage fades into ventral pelage. Venter is yellowish gray, being dark or steel gray with yellowish buff to cinnamon tips. Feet are dark brown and covered with light brown hair dorsally. Ears are covered with short brown hair and are a similar color to dorsum; vibrissae are fairly short. Tail is only ¢.65% of head-body length and uniformly brown, with inconspicuous hairs throughout. Skull is thinly built, with small rostrum compared with cranial region. Gastrointestinal helminth genera Heterakis and Odilia have been found in Mount Giluwe Rats. There are four pairs of mammae: one pectoral, one postaxial, and two inguinal pairs.

Habitat. Subalpine grassland, moss forests, and beech-moss zone at elevations of 2195— 3660 m.

Food and Feeding. Diet probably consists of grass seeds and buds and flowers of alpine plants.

Breeding. Reproduction probably occurs in February-March, June, and October.

Activity patterns. The Mount Giluwe Rat is probably nocturnal. It constructs shallow tunnels that lead to nests in tussock grass.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Mount Giluwe Rat has a restricted distribution but seems to have a stable overall population. It is preyed on by domestic dogs and might be threatened by increased fire frequency in the region.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995b), Helgen (2007b), Helgen & Opiang (2011), Gerrie & Kennerley (2016b), Musser & Carleton (2005), Smales (2016), Taylor et al. (1982), Timm, Weijola et al. (2016).