Margaretamys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.[1] Up until 1973, it was known from only few examples of one species. Then Guy G. Musser collected more examples of this species during his stay in Sulawesi, as well as collecting two new species. And in 1981, as part of his huge project of sorting through the then very large genus Rattus, he described these as members of the new genus, Margaretamys.[2]
| Margaretamys | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Subfamily: | Murinae |
| Tribe: | Rattini |
| Genus: | Margaretamys Musser, 1981 |
| Type species | |
| Mus beccarii | |
| Species | |
|
Margaretamys beccarii | |
The known distribution is the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Samples are known from the northern peninsula, the central core and the southeastern peninsula, ranging from tropical lowlands to mountain ranges up to about 2250 m. Each species is represented by only few examples, and have proven difficult to catch, so each species may have wider distributions and more species may exist in areas not yet surveyed.
It contains the following species:
- Beccari's margareta rat (Margaretamys beccarii)
- Christine's margareta rat (Margaretamys christinae)[3][4]
- Elegant margareta rat (Margaretamys elegans)
- Little margareta rat (Margaretamys parvus)
References
edit
- ^ Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1359. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Musser, Guy G. (1981). "Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 105. Notes on systematics of Indo-Malayan murid rodents, and descriptions of new genera and species from Ceylon, Sulawesi and the Philippines". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 168 (3): 225–334.
- ^ Mortelliti, A. et al. 2012: A new species of Margaretamys (Rodentia: Muridae: Murinae: Rattini) from Pegunungan Mekongga, southeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tropical zoology, 25(2): 74–107. doi:10.1080/03946975.2012.696439
- ^ "New mammal discovered in Indonesia". News.mongabay.com. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
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