Margaretamys christinae
| Christine's margareta rat | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Margaretamys |
| Species: | M. christinae |
| Binomial name | |
|
Margaretamys christinae Mortelliti, Castiglia, Amori, Maryanto & Musser, 2012 |
|
Christine's margareta rat (Margaretamys christinae) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi, in a mountainous part of the southeastern peninsula. It was first discovered by an expedition led by Alessio Mortelliti in 2011.
Christine's margareta rat belongs to the genus Margaretamys in the Old World rats and mice subfamily Murinae of the family Muridae. It was discovered in 2011 and was first described in 2012 by Alessio Mortelliti, Riccardo Castiglia, Giovanni Amori, Ibnu Maryanto and Guy G. Musser. Mortelliti, from the Sapienza University of Rome, who discovered the new species, named it after Christina Thwaites, another member of the expedition.
Christine's margareta rat grows to a head-and-body length of about 110 mm (4.3 in) with a tail length of 175 mm (7 in). The muzzle is greyish white, the whiskers are long and the ears are large, brown and sparsely haired. The fur is long, soft and dense and the dorsal colouring is dark reddish brown. The underparts are greyish yellow, except the chin and throat, which are greyish white. The legs are brown while the fingers and toes are white. The tail is greyish brown, with the last third white. The scales on the tail each bear three hairs, and these increase in length towards the tip, where they form a terminal tuft. This species is distinguished from other members of its genus found on Sulawesi by its small size, its soft reddish-brown upper parts, greyish-buff underparts and long, bicoloured tail with a tufted tip.
Although the ecology of this species has not been studied, it is likely to be similar to the other three species of Margaretamys which are also endemic to Sulawesi. They are nocturnal and live on the ground or in the forest understory (Christine's margareta rat was trapped 1.5 m (5 ft) off the ground). They feed largely on fruit and insects and have litters of one or two young.
...
Wikipedia