Giant white-tailed rat
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The giant white-tailed rat (''Uromys caudimaculatus'') is an Australian
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
native to
tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...
of north
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
, with subspecies occurring in
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and the
Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a ...
. It is one of the largest rodents in Australia, reaching up to 1 kg in weight.Moore, L. A. (1995) "Giant white-tailed rat", ''Uromys caudimaculatus''. In: ''Mammals of Australia''. (Ed, Strahan, R.) pp. 638–640. Reed Books, Chatswood, NSW. It is grey-brown above, cream to white below, and has a long, naked tail of which the distal section is white (Moore 1995).
Breeding Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant. Breeding may refer to: * Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and ra ...
commences in September or October, peaking in December and January at the height of the wet season. After a gestation of 36 days, a litter of two to three (rarely four) young are born, and remain with the mother for approximately three months (Moore 1995).


Common names

The common name of this species has long been white-tailed rat or giant white-tailed rat. During the 1990s there was a push for such descriptive English common names to be replaced with indigenous Australian names, and accordingly, in 1995 the
Australian Nature Conservation Agency Director of National Parks is a government-owned corporation of the Australian government responsible for the management of a portfolio of terrestrial and marine protected areas proclaimed under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Con ...
published recommendations for the common names of rodents. They compiled six indigenous names for this species: the Yidiny name ''Durrgim''; the Jaabugay name ''Durrkin''; the Gnog names ''Jikoy'', ''Koojang'' and ''Parrongkai''; and the Kuuku Ya'u name ''Thupi''. Despite this they recommended the adoption of the name Mati, which is a general name for rats and mice recorded from the vicinity of the Peach River on Cape York. However this recommendation was not prescriptive, and it remains to be seen to what extent it will be adopted. It is known as kabkal in the
Kalam language Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Provin ...
of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. ''A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes''. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.


References

Uromys Mammals described in 1867 Mammals of Queensland Taxa named by Gerard Krefft {{Murinae-stub