Pocock's highland rat (''Rattus pococki'') is a species of rat of the family Muridae. It is native to

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 Torr ...

Description

Pocock's highland rat was first described by

Sir John Ellerman, 2nd Baronet Sir John Reeves Ellerman, 2nd Baronet (21 December 1909 – 17 July 1973) was an English shipowner, natural historian and philanthropist. The only son and heir of the English shipowner and investor John Ellerman, he was often said to be ...

in 1941. It was named for Reginald Innes Pocock, a zoologist who worked at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

from 1885 to 1904, and then as the superintendent of the Zoological Garden in London until 1923. In closely related to '' Rattus niobe''. In 2005 Musser and Carleton provisionally recognized it as a separate species on the grounds that it is larger in size and has slightly darker fur. It is also similar to '' Rattus arrogans'' but distinguished by its smaller size and darker fur. They stated that further study need to be done on the relationship to ''R. niobe''.

Distribution

The species is native to the Central Cordillera region of

Papua Province Papua is a province of Indonesia, comprising the northern coast of Western New Guinea together with island groups in Cenderawasih Bay to the west. It roughly follows the borders of Papuan customary region of Tabi Saireri. It is bordered by the ...

, Indonesia 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 is found in the mountain tropical forests between 1500 and 2500 m. It is listed on IUCN as least concern as its wide distribution suggests an abundant population. It also has no major threats leading to a decline in numbers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocock's Highland Rat Rattus Mammals described in 1941 Mammals of Indonesia Mammals of Papua New Guinea Rodents of New Guinea