The Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat or Ryukyu rat (''Diplothrix legata'') 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 the only
extant species in the genus ''
Diplothrix''. It is found only in the
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...
of
Japan. Its natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
is temperate
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s.
Conservation
The species is threatened by
habitat loss
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
, predation by feral cats (with studies finding that the rat contributed 23% of feral cat's diet on
Amami-Oshima), and introduced nematode and helminth parasites.
References
*
External links
Muridae
Rats of Asia
Endemic mammals of Japan
Endemic fauna of the Ryukyu Islands
Mammals described in 1906
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Murinae-stub