The short-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat or the short-tailed Talaud melomys (''Melomys caurinus'') 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 The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae comes ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Karakelong Karakelong is the main island of the Talaud Islands north east of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its area is . It has a population of 51,506 at the 2010 Census and 59,920 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Its largest town is Melong ...

and Salebabu in the

Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands ( Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') also spelled Talaur or Talaut, are a group of islands situated about 225 miles (360 km) northeast of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, north-east of the Sangihe Islands. The Talaud Islands are als ...

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 Gui ...

where it occurs in forest habitats. The

long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat The long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat or the long-tailed Talaud melomys (''Melomys talaudium'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Karakelong and Salebabu in the Talaud Islands in Indonesia where it occurs in fore ...

(''Melomys talaudium'') is also present on the islands and the shorter tail of this species means that it is likely to be mainly terrestrial whereas ''M. talaudium'' is largely arboreal. 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 natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

" because its population size is thought to be decreasing, the natural forest on the island is progressively being cleared, and the total area of occurrence of this species is around .

References

Melomys Rats of Asia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Rodents of Indonesia Endangered fauna of Asia Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1921 {{Melomys-stub