Great Key Island giant rat

Uromys siebersi is Unexplored rodent of the genus mosaic -tailed giant rat. The species is known only from a skull and three specimens were collected on the island of Kai Besar ( Kai Islands). The holotype from 1922 is located in the Natural History Museum and the paratype in the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense in Cibinong, Indonesia. In addition there exists another copy in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria in Genoa and a skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin ..

Features

The holotype has a head-body length of 280 mm and a tail length of 84 mm. The Condylobasallänge of the skull is 59.5 mm. The characteristic properties of Uromys siebersi is a very short tail, which is more marbled than that of the white-tailed giant rat ( Uromys caudimaculatus ), small slit-shaped incisor holes and a striking arched skull.

System

The taxonomic status of Uromys siebersi is unclear. In 1923 she was described by Oldfield Thomas as an independent species. Hans Rümmler (1938 ) and John Reeves Ellerman (1941 ), they classified as a subspecies of white-tailed giant rat ( Uromys caudimaculatus ). Eleanor MO Laurie and John Edwards Hill they synonymisierten 1954 with the subspecies Uromys caudimaculatus aruensis. Tim Flannery and Colin Groves have Uromys siebersi rated in their revision of the genus Uromys from the year 1994 as a kind of uncertain status because they could not assign subspecies of white-tailed giant rat of this taxon. The IUCN classifies Uromys siebersi into the category of insufficient data ( data deficient ).