The long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat or the long-tailed Talaud melomys (''Melomys talaudium'') 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 n ...

in the family Muridae. It is

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 else ...

to Karakelong and Salebabu in the

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands ( Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') also spelled Talaur or Talaut, are a group of islands situated about 225 miles (360 km) northeast of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, north-east of the Sangihe Islands. The Talaud Islands are als ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

where it occurs in forest habitats. It is morphologically similar to the white-bellied mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys leucogaster'') and was at one time considered to be a subspecies but is now recognised as a distinct species. The short-tailed mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys caurinus'') is also present on the islands and the shorter tail of that species means that it is likely to be mainly terrestrial whereas ''M. talaudium'' is largely arboreal. 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 nat ...

has assessed the conservation status of the long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat as being "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

" because its population size is thought to be decreasing, the natural forest on the islands is progressively being cleared, and the total area of occurrence of this species is around .

References

Melomys Rats of Asia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Rodents of Indonesia Endangered fauna of Asia Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1921 {{Melomys-stub