''Margaretamys'' is a genus 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 ...

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 island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

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 ...

. Up until 1973, it was known from only few examples of one species. Then Guy G. Musser collected more examples of this species during his stay in Sulawesi, as well as collecting two new species. And in 1981, as part of his huge project of sorting through the then very large genus ''Rattus'', described these as members of the new genus, ''Margaretamys''. The known distribution is the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Samples are known from the northern peninsula, the central core and the southeastern peninsula, ranging from tropical lowlands to mountain ranges up to about 2250 m. Each species is represented by only few examples, and have proven difficult to catch, so each species may have wider distributions and more species may exist in areas not yet surveyed. It contains the following species: * Beccari's margareta rat (''Margaretamys beccarii'') * Christine's margareta rat (''Margaretamys christinae'') *

Elegant margareta rat The elegant margareta rat (''Margaretamys elegans'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and O ...

(''Margaretamys elegans'') * Little margareta rat (''Margaretamys parvus'')

References

Rodents of Sulawesi Rodent genera Taxa named by Guy Musser Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Murinae-stub