Tarsomys apoensis Mearns 1905

Tarsomys apoensis Mearns 1905, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus ., 28: 453.

Type Locality: Philippines, S Mindanao Isl, Davao City Province, Mt Apo, 6750 ft (2058 m).

Vernacular Names: Dusky Tarsomys.

Distribution: Greater Mindanao Faunal Region. Endemic to the mountains on Mindanao from 1550 to 2400 m in tropical lower and upper montane rainforest (Heaney et al, 1998; Musser and Heaney, 1992).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: This dark-furred, short-tailed mountain rat may be the ecological equivalent of the Sulawesian Bunomys chrysocomus, which it superficially resembles in some morphological traits (Musser and Heaney, 1992). Standard karyotype (2n = 42, FN = 61/62) identical to that of Limnomys in autosomes and X chromosome but differs by its larger telocentric Y chromosome (Rickart and Heaney, 2002).