Luzon broad-toothed rat

The Luzon - wide-tooth rat ( Abditomys latidens ) is a little-known rodent that seems to be endemic to the island belonging to the Philippines Luzon.

So far, only two individuals of this extremely rare mouse were found: one at Mount Data in the north of the island, another at Los Baños in the south. Both come from very different habitats: the former consists of a dense mountain rain forest, the latter from a rice field in the lowlands. From the long tail and sharp claws it is concluded that the broad- toothed rat is a tree animal. Maybe she lives as the morphologically similar Sody Tree Rat ( Kadarsanomys sodyi ) in bamboo thickets.

The Luzon - wide-tooth rat has a body length of 22 centimeters, 26 centimeters cock added. The rough coat is brown on the upper side and lower side yellow. The special feature that distinguishes the Luzon - wide-tooth rat from most other mice is that each one toe of each leg instead of a claw bears a nail.

Colin Campbell Sanborn, in 1952 the species then newly discovered, described the broad- toothed rat ordered another in the genuine rats. The second copy was found in 1973. Musser and Heaney 1992 published the results of a detailed analysis of the specimens. Consequently, the Mearns - Luzonratte ( Tryphomys adustus ) is the closest relative of the Luzon - wide-tooth rat, and both have no close relationship to other domestic mice in the Philippines. Within the Altweltmäuse the species is counted in the Rattus group.