Short-tailed Talaud Mosaic-tailed Rat
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The short-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat or the short-tailed Talaud melomys (''Melomys caurinus'') 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 Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
in the family
Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...
. It is
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to Karakelong and Salebabu in the Talaud Islands in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
where it occurs in forest habitats. The long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys talaudium'') is also present on the islands and the shorter tail of this species means that it is likely to be mainly terrestrial whereas ''M. talaudium'' is largely arboreal. The
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
has assessed its conservation status as being "
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
" because its population size is thought to be decreasing, the natural forest on the island is progressively being cleared, and the total area of occurrence of this species is around .


References

Melomys Rats of Asia Endemic fauna of Indonesia Rodents of Indonesia Endangered fauna of Asia Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Mammals described in 1921 {{Melomys-stub