The Panay cloudrunner (''Crateromys heaneyi'') is the second-largest

cloud rat The cloud rats or cloudrunners are a tribe (Phloeomyini) of arboreal and nocturnal herbivorous rodents endemic to the cloud forests of the Philippines. They belong to the family Muridae and include five genera: ''Batomys'' (hairy-tailed rats), ' ...

, a squirrel-like

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 ...

that is found on the island of Panay 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 ...

. It is the most endangered rodent species in Panay, and one of the only few known cloud rat species in the world.

Discovery

The Panay cloudrunner was discovered by western science in 1987, and was described as a new species in 1996 by

Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Pedro Gonzales of the

National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and vis ...

. The late date of discovery was because the lack of forest cover on Panay which led to the island being largely ignored by biologists.

Description

The Panay cloudrunner is a little over 600 mm long, with grizzled greyish-brown fur and a long, bushy tail making up more than half of the body length. It weighs around 1 kilogram.Panay bushy-tailed cloud rat (''Crateromys heaneyi'')
ARKive. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.

Habits

The cloudrunner is nocturnal and

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

, and nests during the day in the hollow of a large tree. Its diet includes bananas, guavas, corn, papayas, and assorted leaves.Panay Cloudrunner
Encarta

Conservation

Continued deforestation on the island of Panay is the major threat to this species, and the animal is now confined to remnant forest in a mountain range on the western end of the island.

References

Rats of Asia Crateromys Endemic fauna of the Philippines Fauna of Panay Rodents of the Philippines Endangered fauna of Asia Mammals described in 1996 {{Murinae-stub