The Mindanao mountain rat or long-tailed moss mouse (''Limnomys sibuanus''), 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 only in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where it is present at high altitudes in the Kitanglad Mountain Range on the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

Taxonomy

''Limnomys sibuanus'' was first described in 1905 by the American naturalist Edgar Alexander Mearns. It was based on a single individual and limited in its scope. In 1913, the biologist

Ned Hollister Ned Hollister (November 26, 1876 – November 3, 1924) was an American biologist primarily known for studying mammals. Hollister was born in Delavan, Wisconsin, to parents Kinner Newcomb Hollister (1841–1911) and Frances Margaret (Tilden) Hollis ...

described a second species in the genus, ''L. mearnsii'', from a number of specimens, but this was later

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

ised with ''L. sibuanus''. Another species was described in 2003 by Eric A. Rickart as ''

Limnomys bryophilus The gray-bellied mountain rat, also known as the gray-bellied limnomys and the buffy-collared moss-mouse (''Limnomys bryophilus''), is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Philippines, where it is common at high elev ...

''. The new species had a "relatively longer tail, larger hind feet, softer pelage with grayish-white ventral coloration, larger skull with a longer rostrum, larger auditory bullae, larger molars, and other istinguishingcranial and dental features." Both species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Kitanglad Mountain Range in central

in the Philippines, but they differ in the elevations at which they are found.

Description

The Mindanao mountain rat has a head-and-body length of and a tail length of , and weighs . The

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

is short and somewhat coarse with flattened awns. The upper parts of this rat are yellowish-brown and the underparts are plain white, with no brown on the chest. The pinnae and the hind feet are smaller than those of ''L. bryophilus''. Its

karyotype A karyotype is the general appearance of the complete set of metaphase chromosomes in the cells of a species or in an individual organism, mainly including their sizes, numbers, and shapes. Karyotyping is the process by which a karyotype is disce ...

has 2n = 42 and FN = 61/62.

Distribution and habitat

The species is native to the Kitanglad Mountain Range in Mindanao where it occurs on Mount Apo, Mount Kitanglad and Mount Malindang. It is found at altitudes of between . Its habitat is forests composed mostly of

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

s and laurels up to high, with fallen trees,

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s, other shrubs,

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in 2000. The habitat is not being exploited and no particular threats to this species are known, so the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q302830 Limnomys Rats of Asia Endemic fauna of the Philippines Rodents of the Philippines Fauna of Mindanao Mammals described in 1905 Taxa named by Edgar Alexander Mearns Taxonomy articles created by Polbot