The Riama mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys howi''), 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 found only on the island of Riama 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 ...

, a small island to the west of

Selaru Selaru is an island in Indonesia in the Tanimbar Islands group, Southeast Maluku. It is located south of Yamdena. It is one of the 92 officially listed outlying islands of Indonesia. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Een groep jonge mannen te Adaoet ...

in the

Tanimbar Islands The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Ford ...

. Very little is known about this species, but it may also be present on some of the other islands in this group. The Riama mosaic-tailed rat is closely related and similar in appearance to the

Papua grassland mosaic-tailed rat The Papua grassland mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys lutillus''), also known as the grassland melomys, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of New Guinea where it is present from sea level to altitudes of about . ...

(''M. lutillus''). 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 insufficient information on which to assess the conservation status of the Riama mosaic-tailed rat, so it is listed as " data deficient".

References

Melomys Rats of Asia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Rodents of Indonesia Taxa named by Darrell Kitchener Mammals described in 1996 {{Melomys-stub