The Guadalcanal rat (''Uromys porculus'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

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 was found only in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. Since this species was collected between 1886 and 1888 it has not been seen again. It is possibly

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Description

The only known skull of the Guadalcanal rat is clearly elongate and narrow, but has the molars so worn that few details of the crown remain. The details in the skull are described as similar to other members of the genus Uromys, specifically ''

Uromys rex The king rat (''Uromys rex'') is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smalle ...

'' and '' Uromus imperator.'' The species also had a very short tail, indicating it was possibly

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

History

The only known specimen of Guadacanal rat was described in 1904 by

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appo ...

, although it was most likely collected at or around the same time as similar species ''

'' and '' Uromus imperator'' in the late 1880s. The species was registered in 1889 and was collected by

Charles Morris Woodford Charles Morris Woodford (30 October 1852 – 4 October 1927) was a British naturalist and government minister active in the Solomon Islands. He became the first Resident Commissioner of the Solomon Islands Protectorate, serving from 1896 (three ...

at Aola village in the

. The species has not been seen since this collection and there is no local knowledge of the species, indicating it is most likely extinct.

Genus Name

When it was first named in 1904 by

, the Guadacanal rat was described as a species of ''Uromys''. Later, it was transferred to ''Melomys'', before being placed once again in ''Uromys'', once more in ''Melomys'', until it was returned to ''Uromys'' where it is currently placed.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q135130 Uromys Endemic fauna of the Solomon Islands Mammals of the Solomon Islands Rodents of Oceania Critically endangered fauna of Oceania Rodent extinctions since 1500 Mammals described in 1904 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas