269.

Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat

Melomys frigicola

French: Mélomys des Snow / German: Schneegebirge-Mosaikschwanzratte / Spanish: Rata de cola moteada de Sudirnam

Other common names: Snow Mountains Grassland Melomys

Taxonomy. Melomys lutillus frigicola Tate, 1951,

“Bele River, 18 kilometers north of Lake Habbema, near Mt. Wilhelmina, Netherlands New Guinea [= Papua, Indo-nesia], 2200 meters.”

Originally considered a subspecies of M. lutillus, M. frigicola was elevated to species rank in 1996 by J. I. Menzies, who included it, as well as M. lutillus, in the “ M. cervinipes division.” P. H. Fabre and colleagues in 2017 also described some

characters for this species. Monotypic.

Distribution. N slopes of the Snow (= Sudirman) Mts and nearby Baliem River, WC New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 101-135 mm, tail 122-136 mm, ear 12-14 mm, hindfeet 23-29 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. The Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat is a small-sized Melomys . Upperparts are yellow brown, with gray-buff to pure white ventral coloration. Tail is of about same size as orslightly longer than head-body length.

Habitat. Secondary forests and grasslands between 600 m and 2200 m.

Food and Feeding. No information.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information

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Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Snow Mountains Grassland Mosaic-tailed Rat is probably common and has a large distribution. It is, however, very poorly known.

Bibliography. Fabre, Fitriana et al. (2017), Menzies (1996), Tate (1951).