''Saxatilomys paulinae'', ''Paulina's limestone rat'', is a species of

murid In Sufism, a (Arabic ) is a novice committed to spiritual enlightenment by (traversing a path) under a spiritual guide, who may take the title , or . A or Sufi follower only becomes a when he makes a pledge () to a . The equivalent Pers ...

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 Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

native to central Laos and Vietnam, separated to a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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 ...

''Saxatilomys''. It was first discovered in the

Khammouan Limestone National Biodiversity Conservation Area The Phou Hin Poun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, formerly known as the Khammouane Limestone National Biodiversity Conservation Area, is one of 21 National Biodiversity Conservation Areas of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Located ...

in Khammouan Province, Laos, and also been found in the Vietnamese province of Quang Bình. It is the only known species in the genus ''Saxatilomys''. The genus name is derived from the Latin ''saxatilis'', meaning "among the rocks" and the Greek ''mys'', meaning mouse or rat.

Description

It resembles, and is likely closely related to, species in the genera ''

Niviventer ''Niviventer'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Southeast Asia. It contains the following species: * Anderson's white-bellied rat, ''Niviventer andersoni'' * Brahma white-bellied rat, ''Niviventer brahma'' * '' Niviventer b ...

'' and ''

Chiromyscus Fea's tree rat (''Chiromyscus chiropus'') or the Indochinese chiromyscus, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Yunnan (China), eastern Myanmar, northern Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Sociali ...

''. ''Saxatilomys'' is distinguished from these and other

Indomalayan The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

genera by "semispinous dark gray upperparts, dark frosted gray underparts, large, extremely bulbous footpads, and a combination of derived and primitive cranial and dental traits".

Habitat

It is thought to be petricolous and has only been observed in forested, rocky

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

habitats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q19947185, from2=Q141405 Old World rats and mice Rodents of Laos Rodents of Vietnam Mammals described in 2005 Monotypic rodent genera Taxa named by Guy Musser