Neill's long-tailed giant rat (''Leopoldamys neilli'') is a species of

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 na ...

in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae come ...

. It is found in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and possibly

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...

and rocky areas. ''Leopoldamys neilli'' is threatened by the destruction of limestone karst habitats. Six highly differentiated genetic lineages of ''Leopoldamys neilli'' were found in

Kanchanaburi Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...

, West Central (

Saraburi Saraburi City (''thesaban mueang'') is the provincial capital of Saraburi Province in central Thailand. In 2020, it had a population of 60,809 people, and covers the complete ''tambon'' Pak Phriao of the Mueang Saraburi district. Location Sa ...

Lopburi Lopburi ( th, ลพบุรี, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town (''thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Th ...

), East Central (

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima ( th, นครราชสีมา, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan, Thailand, known as the "big four of Isan". The city is commonly known as Korat (, ), a shortened form of its name. It is the governmental seat of ...

Loei Loei (; ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northeast Thailand. Loei covers the whole ''tambon'' of Mueang Loei district and is the capital of Loei province. In 2017, Loei had a population of 21,013. Loei lies 545 km north-northeast of Ba ...

Nan Nan or NAN may refer to: Places China * Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China * Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China Thailand * Nan Province ** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province * Nan River People Given name ...

, and

Phrae Phrae (; ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in northern Thailand, capital of Phrae Province. The town occupies ''tambon'' Nai Wiang of Mueang Phrae District. It has an area of nine kilometres2 and a population of 17,971 (2005). Phrae is 555 km no ...

provinces of Thailand respectively.Alice Latinne, Surachit Waengsothorn, Vincent Herbreteau, Johan R. Michaux. Thai limestone karsts: an impending

biodiversity crisis Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

. International Conference on Environmental Supporting in Food and Energy Security: Crisis and Opportunity, Mar 2011, Bangkok, Thailand. Thai Society of Higher Education Institutes on Environment, pp.176-187, 2011.

Gene flow In population genetics, gene flow (also known as gene migration or geneflow and allele flow) is the transfer of genetic material from one population to another. If the rate of gene flow is high enough, then two populations will have equivalent a ...

among lineages is low.

References

* Rats of Asia Leopoldamys Rodents of Southeast Asia Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Vietnam Mammals described in 1976 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Murinae-stub

See also

References