The Snow Mountains grassland mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys frigicola''), also known as the Snow Mountains grassland melomys, 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 ...

to the mountainous west part of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

, where its range extends from Lake Habbema to the

Baliem Valley The Baliem Valley ( id, Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia, which is inhabited mainly by the Dani peo ...

, in Papua Province, Indonesia. It is present at altitudes between above sea level. It is found in grassland and other disturbed areas. 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 of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...

" because, although it has a fairly small range, it is plentiful in some areas, can tolerate disturbance to its habitat, and faces no particular threats. Its population may be declining somewhat, but not at a sufficient rate for the IUCN to list it in a more threatened category.

References

Melomys Rodents of New Guinea Endemic fauna of New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Rodents of Indonesia Mammals described in 1951 Taxa named by George Henry Hamilton Tate {{Melomys-stub