Melomys caurinus (Thomas 1921)

[Hydromys] chrysogaster Thomas 1921, Treubia, 2: 112.

Type Locality: Indonesia, Kepulauan Talaud, Pulau Karakelang.

Vernacular Names: Short-tailed Talaud Melomys.

Distribution: Recorded only by four specimens from Pulau Karakelang and Pulau Salebabu (MZB) in the Talaud Isls (Helgen, 2003 b).

Discussion: Morphologically very similar to M. leucogaster (Menzies, 1996; our own study of the specimens discussed by Flannery, 1995 b). Originally described as a species, but Rümmler (1938) and Ellerman (1941) treated caurinus as a subspecies of M. leucogaster, Musser and Carleton (1993) listed it in the synonymy of that species, and Laurie and Hill (1954) arranged it as a subspecies of M. fulgens . Tate (1951) recognized caurinus as a distinct species as have Flannery (1995 b) and Menzies (1996). It is sympatric with M. talaudium, which has a longer tail relative to head and body length, suggesting that M. caurinus may be terrestrial and M. talaudium arboreal (Flannery, 1995 b; Thomas, 1921 i). Except for tail length these two species are hardly distinguishable in cranial and dental features and to Flannery (1995 b:132) "there seems little doubt that these two species have evolved in the Talaud Isls from a common ancestor.".