258.

Long-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat

Melomys talaudium

French: Mélomys des Talaud / German: Langschwanz-Talaud-Mosaikschwanzratte / Spanish: Rata de cola moteada de Talaud de cola larga

Other common names: Long-tailed Talaud Melomys

Taxonomy. Uromys talaudium Thomas, 1921,

Lirung, Pulau Salebabu, Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia.

Transferred from Uromys to Melomys by O. Thomas in 1922, M. talaudium was placed in subgenus Melomys by H. Rummler in 1936 as a subspecies of M. leucogaster on basis of morphological and morphometric analyses. M. talaudium is very similar to M. leucogaster and to M. caurinus. G. H. H. Tate in 1951 recognized talaudium as a distinct species, as did T. F. Flannery in 1995 and J. I. Menzies in 1996. Monotypic.

Distribution. Karakelang I and SalebabuI, in Talaud Is, Indonesia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 173-174 mm, tail 150-190 mm, ear 13-16 mm, hindfoot 31 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Long-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat was described as having a rich ocherous dorsal pelage sharply contrasting with a white belly. The tail had some hairs on its first third and is uniformly pale brown;it is slightly shorter than head-body length. This species is sympatric with the Short-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat (M. caurinus), which has a shortertail relative to head-body length.

Habitat. [Lowland forest Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. The Long-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Ratis thought to be more arboreal than the sympatric Short-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat. These two species both have the relatively short feet typical of climbing species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. The Longtailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat is known from a few specimens, and has a very small range (c.1577 km?). Deforestation is taking place throughout the species’ range.

Bibliography. Fabre, Fitriana et al. (2017), Flannery (1995a), Menzies (1996), Rimmler (1936), Tate (1951), Thomas (1921d, 1922c¢).