Rattus vandeuseni

715.

Van Deusen’s New Guinea Mountain Rat

Rattus vandeuseni

French: Rat de Van Deusen / German: Van-Deusen-Neuguinea-Ratte / Spanish: Rata de montana de Nueva Guinea de Van Deusen

Other common names: Van Deusen’s Rat

Taxonomy. Rattus verecundus vandeuseni J. M. Taylor & Calaby, 1982,

“Middle Camp, 1540 m, northern slope of Mt. Dayman, Maneau Range, 1540 m,” Papua New Guinea.

Rattus vandeuseni has not been included in any phylogenetic studies. It was originally recognized as a subspeciesof R. verecundus butis recognized as a distinct species here. Monotypic.

Distribution. Extreme SE Papuan Peninsula, New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 141-160 mm (males) and 120-150 mm (females), tail 149-152 mm (males) and 125-147 mm (females), ear 18-:9-19-8 mm (males) and 19-8-20-7 mm (females), hindfoot 30-5-31-2 mm (males) and 30-5-31 mm (females); weight 68-74 g (males) and 50-88 g (females). Van Deusen’s New Guinea Mountain Rat is small and slightly sexually dimorphic, with males a little larger than females. Pelage is long,soft, and without spines. Dorsum is dark brown, tinged with rusty brown-tipped hairs and with inconspicuous black guard hairs and gray underfur. Venter is somewhat lighter brown than dorsum, with reddish buff-tipped and gray-based fur;it is not demarcated from dorsum. Feet are covered with mix of brown and white hairs. Ears are dull medium brown and covered in medium brown hairs; vibrissae are long. Tail is nearly 100% of head-body length, unicolored medium brown, and sparsely covered in short brown hair. Skull has barely discernible supraorbital beading. There are two inguinal pairs of mammae.

Habitat. Primary montane tropical moist forest at elevations above 1300 m.

Food and Feeding. Van Deusen’s New Guinea Mountain Rats were trapped in traps baited with peanut butter, beetle larvae, and sweet potato.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Van Deusen’s New Guinea Mountain Rat has a very restricted distribution, is relatively uncommon, and is probably threatened by habitat loss and degradation.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995b), Leary, Singadan, Menzies, Helgen, Wright et al. (2008), Musser & Carleton (2005), Taylor et al. (1982).