The squirrel-toothed rat (''Anisomys imitator''), also known as the New Guinea giant rat, powerful-toothed rat, uneven-toothed rat, or narrow-toothed giant rat, 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 na ...

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 come ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Anisomys'' and is found in New Guinea. The species has been known to eat

karuka The karuka (''Pandanus julianettii'', also called karuka nut and ''Pandanus'' nut) is a species of tree in the family Pandanaceae and an important regional food crop in New Guinea. The nuts are more nutritious than coconuts, and are so popular ...

nuts (''Pandanus julianettii''), and growers will put platforms or other obstacles on the trunks of the trees to keep the pests out.

Names

It is known as gudi-ws or gudl-ws in the

Kalam language Kalam is a Kalam language of Papua New Guinea. It is closely related to Kobon, and shares many of the features of that language. Kalam is spoken in Middle Ramu District of Madang Province and in Mount Hagen District of Western Highlands Provinc ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

.Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. ''A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes''. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.

References

* Rodents of New Guinea Rodents of Papua New Guinea Old World rats and mice Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Murinae-stub