''Mallomys'' is a genus 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 ...
.
The name of the genus is formed from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
μαλλός, ''mallos'', wool, and μῦς, ''mus'', mouse/rat. These very large rats weigh between and are native to highlands in
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
.
[Flannery, T. (1995). Mammals of New Guinea. Pp. 284-291. ] Little is known about their behavior, but they are believed to feed on leaves, grasses and other plant material.
[
It contains the following species:
* De Vis's woolly rat (''Mallomys aroaensis'')
* ]Alpine woolly rat
The alpine woolly rat (''Mallomys gunung'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found only in West Papua, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the I ...
(''Mallomys gunung'')
* Subalpine woolly rat (''Mallomys istapantap'')
* Rothschild's woolly rat (''Mallomys rothschildi'')
* Bosavi woolly rat
The Bosavi woolly rat is a species of rodent that was discovered deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea in 2009. It is believed to belong to the genus '' Mallomys'', within the family Muridae, according to initial investigation, although this has ...
(''Mallomys'' sp. nov.)
* Arfak woolly rat (''Mallomys'' sp. nov.)
* Foja woolly rat (''Mallomys'' sp. nov.)
Conservation International
Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia.
CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...
(CI) and the 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 ...
Institute of Science (LIPI) discovered two possibly undescribed mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s upon visit of the Foja Mountains
The Foja Mountains (Foja Range, Foya Mountains) ( id, Pegunungan Foja) are located just north of the Mamberamo river basin in Papua, Indonesia. The mountains rise to , and have 3,000 square kilometers of old growth tropical rainforest in the inte ...
in June 2007: a ''Cercartetus
The genus ''Cercartetus'' is a group of very small possums known as pygmy possums. Four species comprise this genus, which together with the genus '' Burramys'' make up the marsupial family Burramyidae.
It has occasionally been presumed that ' ...
'' pygmy possum
The pygmy possums are a family of small possums that together form the marsupial family Burramyidae. The five extant species of pygmy possum are grouped into two genera. Four of the species are endemic to Australia, with one species also co-occu ...
, one of the world's smallest marsupials, and a ''Mallomys'' giant rat (five times the size of a Brown Rat
The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...
) - found in 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 ...
's Papua in 2005. Afp.google.com, Two new mammals found in Indonesian 'lost world': green group
References
Rodent genera
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Rodents of New Guinea
{{Murinae-stub