Vangunu giant rat

Vangunu giant rat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Uromys
Species:
U. vika
Binomial name
Uromys vika
Lavery & Judge, 2017

Uromys vika, also known as the Vangunu giant rat and locally known as the vika, is a giant species of rodent that lives in trees. It is in the family Muridae.[2][3] The rat was discovered in the island of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands in 2015,[4] after years of searching based on local stories, and described in 2017.[5] It was identified as a new species on the basis of its skull, skeleton and a detailed DNA analysis.[2]

Discovery and publication

In November 2015 a wildlife ranger (Hikuna Judge) from the Zaira Conservation Area,[6] saw something (outside the conservation area): "a large rat, [falling] from a 10m tree felled by loggers. The fall killed the rat - but the ranger shipped it to the Queensland Museum, in Australia, where ... Lavery was a fellow". Tyrone Lavery and Hikuna Judge published a species description, in 2017.[5]

Habitat

The rat fell of a tree, outside Zaira, a village on Vangunu Island.[7]

The species is likely to be called critically endangered (as of 2017), because of the small amount of forest habitat (about 80 km2) remaining on the island and ongoing logging.[2][3]

References

  1. ↑ Template:IUCN2019.2 Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Young, E. (27 September 2017). "Giant, tree-dwelling rat discovered in Solomon Islands". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2017.22684.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Tree-dwelling, coconut-cracking giant rat discovered in Solomon Islands" (Press release). Field Museum. EurekaAlert!. 27 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-02-20. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  4. ↑ Choi, C. (26 September 2017), "Discovered: A Giant, Tree-Dwelling Rat that Munches Coconuts", Discover magazine, archived from the original on 2017-09-27, retrieved 2017-09-27
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lavery, T. H.; Judge, H.; A new species of giant rat (Muridae, Uromys) from Vangunu, Solomon Islands, Journal of Mammalogy, gyx116, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyx116
  6. ↑ "Giant Tree-Dwelling, Coconut-Eating Rat Species Discovered". Scientific American.
  7. ↑ "CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos".[permanent dead link]