Emperor rat

Uromys imperator (English name: Emperor rat) is an extinct species of rat from the kind of mosaic -tailed giant rat ( Uromys ). She was endemic to the island of Guadalcanal, which is part of the Solomon Islands.

Description

Uromys imperator was a very large rodent with a short naked tail, which was covered with relatively small scales. The head-body length was 340-350 mm, tail length 250-258 mm, the Hinterfußlänge 64 to 66 millimeters, and the ears Length 19 to 20 millimeters.

Occurrence and life

Presumably she has survived the longest in the montane rain forest, but their original distribution area extended to other areas of the island. Unlike most species of this genus, they lived primarily on the ground.

Extinction

Uromys imperator is known only from three specimens collected 1886-1888 at Aola, Guadalcanal. Because of narratives of the local population has a large, living on the ground rodent suspected the Australian biologist Tim Flannery, that Uromys imperator could have survived until the 1960s. The reason for their disappearance were probably feral cats that have been introduced to combat entrained rats during the British colonial period on Guadalcanal. Since Uromys imperator was a bottom dweller and had not developed a defensive behavior, she was easy prey for the cats.