The limestone rat (''Niviventer hinpoon'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), 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 roden ...

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 com ...

found only in the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

karsts of Saraburi,

Lopburi Lopburi ( th, ลพบุรี, , ) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is about northeast of Bangkok. It has a population of 58,000. The town (''thesaban mueang'') covers the whole ''tambon'' Tha Hin and parts of Th ...

, Nakhon Sawan provinces, central

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. It is listed as an endangered species due to its highly fragmented limestone karst habitat that is currently threatened by mining.

References

* Baillie, J. 1996.
''Niviventer hinpoon''

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Downloaded on 19 July 2007. * Niviventer Endemic fauna of Thailand Rodents of Thailand Mammals described in 1976 Near threatened biota of Asia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Limestone {{Niviventer-stub