''Chiruromys'' is a genus of
Old World mouse
The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...
that is restricted 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 ...
and the nearby islands of
Goodenough,
Fergusson, and
Normanby.
Characteristics
These are small
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose num ...
rats with long tails. Head and body is , tail is , and weight is .
[Nowak, 1999] The fur is grey to brown above with a white belly. They are restricted to forests where they spend all of their time in the canopy. They live in groups usually consisting of a breeding pair and their offspring (usually one to three) (Nowak, 1999).
Classification
Musser and Carleton (2005) considered ''Chiruromys'' to be a member of the ''Pogonomys'' Division within the
Murinae
The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families ex ...
along with the genera ''
Pogonomys'', ''
Hyomys'', ''
Macruromys
''Macruromys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to New Guinea.
It contains the following species:
* Lesser small-toothed rat (''M. elegans'')
* Eastern small-toothed rat
The eastern small-toothed rat (''Macruromys major'') ...
'', ''
Mallomys'', ''
Coccymys'', and ''
Anisomys
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 in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus '' ...
''. It is considered a New Guinea Old Endemic, part of the initial wave of murines colonizing the island.
Species
Genus ''Chiruromys''
*
Greater tree mouse
The greater tree mouse (''Chiruromys forbesi'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found only in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independ ...
, ''Chiruromys forbesi''
*
Lamia, ''Chiruromys lamia''
*
Lesser tree mouse, ''Chiruromys vates''
References
*Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
*Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134866
Rodents of Papua New Guinea
Rodent genera
Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas
Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea