The giant naked-tailed rat (''Uromys anak'') 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 in West Papua,

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 ...

and

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 ...

. It lives in tropical forests, wetlands, and in degraded forests.

Names

It is known as abben 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 Provin ...

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

Description

The rodents reach a body length of up to 20–34 cm, with another added 23–38 cm for its tail. It weighs between 350 and 1020 grams. Its fur is typically short and rough, varying in colour from grey to various shades of brown and black, with its underside being white or grey. Its tail is longer than its body and is uniformly black, with the basal part densely covered with reddish hairs.

Ecology

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 popul ...

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

Notes

References

* Uromys Rodents of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals described in 1907 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Rodents of New Guinea {{Murinae-stub