Florida naked-tailed rat

The Florida naked-tailed rat (Solomys salamonis) is a poorly known and possible extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was confined to the Nggela Islands (previously known as Florida Islands) in the Solomon Islands. The originally mentioned type locality Ugi Island is an erratum.[2]

Florida naked-tailed rat

Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Solomys
Species:
S. salamonis
Binomial name
Solomys salamonis
(Ramsay, 1883)
Synonyms

Mus salamonis

Description

The Florida naked-tailed rat is the smallest species within the genus Solomys. It has a snout-vent-length of 187 mm. The tail length is 194 mm, the hind food length is 39 mm and the ear length 27 mm.[2] The general colour of the fur is light ashy grey, somewhat grizzly, and pencilled with black. The base of the hair is mouse colour. The tips are almost white. The tail is bare and scaly. The blackish whiskers are long. The ears are small, inside grey, on the outside covered with minute hairs.[3]

Conservation status

This species might be possibly extinct as it is only known by the holotype, an adult male, collected by Alexander Morton from the Australian Museum during the HMS Cormorant expedition to the Solomon Islands in 1881.[4] Surveys in 1987 and in 1991 failed to find any specimens and the Nggela Islands are badly deforestated.[2]

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References
  1. Helgen, K.; Leary, T. & Wright, D. (2016). "Solomys salamonis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T20334A22430021. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T20334A22430021.en.
  2. Flannery, T.F. (1995). Mammals of the South-West Pacific & Moluccan Islands. Chatswood: Reed Books, p. 165. ISBN 0-7301-0417-6
  3. Ramsay, E.P. 1883. On a new species of Mus from the island of Ugi, Solomon Group. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 7: pp. 43–44.
  4. Troughton, E. Le G. (1936). A redescription of Solomys ("Mus") salamonis Ramsay. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 61: pp. 128–130

Further reading


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