The Bornean pithecheirops (''Pithecheirops otion'') is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
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 ...
found in
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
. It is monotypic in the genus ''Pithecheirops''. ''Pithecheirops'' is closely related to the genus ''
Pithecheir
''Pithecheir'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia.
It contains the following species:
* Red tree rat (''Pithecheir melanurus'')
* Malayan tree rat (''Pithecheir parvus'')
References
*
Pithecheir,
Rodent ...
'', and the name is derived from ''Pithecheir'' and the Greek ''ops'', meaning "resembling".
The only known example of this species was caught in the
Danum Valley
Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed dipterocarp, lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including such species as the ...
Field Centre in
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
, north Borneo, at approximately 150 m.
Description
It is similar to species in the genus ''
Pithecheir
''Pithecheir'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia.
It contains the following species:
* Red tree rat (''Pithecheir melanurus'')
* Malayan tree rat (''Pithecheir parvus'')
References
*
Pithecheir,
Rodent ...
'', both having long, dense, soft fur and broad feet. The species is distinguished by the appearance of the inner ear bones and
auditory bulla
The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal.
It originates as a separate bone (tympanic ...
.
Habitat
It was found in "dense viny roadside secondary brush on an abandoned logging road".
The dominant habitat of the area is lowland
dipterocarp forest
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...
.
IUCN
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 ...
lists the species as Data Deficient due to this being the only known example of the species. There is no information on population numbers or distribution to indicate if the species is at risk or not. However given the loss of forest and human disturbance in the area and the fact that it was found in a degraded habitat, it may be somewhat adaptable to habitat loss.
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]
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q12266004, from2=Q146451
Old World rats and mice
Taxa named by Louise H. Emmons