Daovantien’s limestone rat (''Tonkinomys daovantieni'') 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 ...

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. ...

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 northeastern Vietnam. It was first discovered in a forested talus habitat in the Huu Lien Nature Reserve,

Lang Son Province Lang may refer to: *Lang (surname), a surname of independent Germanic or Chinese origin Places * Lang Island (Antarctica), East Antarctica * Lang Nunatak, Antarctica * Lang Sound, Antarctica * Lang Park, a stadium in Brisbane, Australia * L ...

. It is the only known species in the genus ''Tonkinomys''.

Description

The genus is destiguished from 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 ...

murids by "semispinous, dense, grayish black fur covering upperparts; a dark gray

venter Venter or Venters is an Afrikaans (and rarely, Jewish) surname, and may refer to: Venter * AJ Venter (b. 1973), South African rugby union footballer * Al J Venter (b. 1938), author * André Venter (b. 1970), South African rugby union footballer * ...

; gray ears; a thick, bicolored tail considerably shorter than length of head and body; and large, extremely bulbous footpads". Its body size, build and some cranial features were described as similar to the species '' Leopoldamys neilli'' found in Thailand. Other cranial features as well as molar occlusal patterns resemble species of the ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and '' Saxatilomys'' genera native to the Indomalayan region.

Habitat

The genus is petricolous, meaning it lives in a rocky habitat, and was found only in talus composed of large

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) ...

blocks. It is thought that its distribution in the Huu Lien Nature reserve is patchy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daovantien's limestone rat Old World rats and mice Rodent genera Taxa named by Guy Musser