''Chiruromys'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
Old World mouse that is restricted to
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
and the nearby islands of
Goodenough,
Fergusson
Fergusson may refer to:
Places
*County of Fergusson, South Australia, Australia
*Fergusson Island, off the coast of New Guinea
*Fergusson Glacier, Wilson Hills, Antarctica
*Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, the only road across the Santa Lucia Range in t ...
, 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 (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
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 excep ...
along with the genera ''
Pogonomys
''Pogonomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae, found in New Guinea and the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, with one species (the prehensile-tailed rat) being found also in Australia.
Species include:
* Champion's tree mouse (''Pogonomys ch ...
'', ''
Hyomys'', ''
Macruromys
''Macruromys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with ...
'', ''
Mallomys
''Mallomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae. The name of the genus is formed from the Greek language, Greek μαλλός, ''mallos'', wool, and μῦς, ''mus'', mouse/rat. These very large rats weigh between and are native to highl ...
'', ''
Coccymys
''Coccymys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the ...
'', 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 monotypic taxon, only species ...
''. It is considered a New Guinea Old Endemic, part of the initial wave of murines colonizing the island.
Species
Genus ''Chiruromys''
*
Greater tree mouse, ''Chiruromys forbesi''
*
Lamia
Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon".
In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...
, ''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