The northern water rat (''Paraleptomys rufilatus'') is an endangered 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 found in the highlands of

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 ...

Distribution

The northern water rat is a rodent of the genus ''

Paraleptomys ''Paraleptomys'' is a genus of rodent from New Guinea. It is considered part of the New Guinea Old Endemics, meaning it was part of the first wave of murine rodents to colonize the island. Members of the genus are similar to those in ''Leptomys' ...

'' appearing on

. This species is found at altitudes of in the

North Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Phy ...

, the mountains Mount Dafonsero (

Cyclops Mountains The Cyclops Mountains ( id, Pegunungan Cycloop) are located to the west of Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, and north of Lake Sentani. In Papua, it is also known as Dafonsoro or Dabonsolo mountain, and is the namesake for football club Persidafon. ...

, Indonesia), Mount Somoro (

Torricelli Mountains The Torricelli Mountains are a mountain range in Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains ar ...

, Papua New Guinea) and Mount Benawa (Bewani mountains, Papua New Guinea). This species has a small, fragmented distribution and is probably quite rare. They are probably partly active during the day. By Olo (the local tribe on Mount Somoro in

Sandaun Province Sandaun Province (formerly West Sepik Province) is the northwesternmost mainland province of Papua New Guinea. It covers an area of 35,920 km2 (13868 m2) and has a population of 248,411 (2011 census). The capital is Vanimo. In July 1998 the a ...

), this animal is referred to as "timbri".

Description

''P. rufilatus'' is larger than the other species of the genus, '' P. wilhelmina'', and is less uniform in colour; the throat is white and the flanks are orange-like, while both body parts are brown in ''P. wilhelmina''. The head-body length is , tail length , the hind foot length , ear length and weighs .

References

* Paraleptomys Rodents of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals described in 1945 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Rodents of New Guinea Taxa named by Wilfred Hudson Osgood {{Murinae-stub