Xenuromys barbatus (Milne-Edwards 1900)

[Mus] barbatus Milne-Edwards 1900, Bull. Mus . Hist. Nat. Paris, 6: 167.

Type Locality: Papua New Guinea, "British New Guinea." .

Vernacular Names: Rock-dwelling Giant Rat.

Synonyms: Xenuromys guba Tate and Archbold 1941 .

Distribution: New Guinea; represented by only a few specimens collected along the Central Cordillera from Mt Dayman in E Papua to the Idenberg River in Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya), and in E end of Torricelli Mtns on north coast; 75-1200 m (Flannery, 1990 b, 1995 a; Flannery et al., 1985).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Leary and Seri (1997) reported a specimen taken at 600 m in karst limestone habitat in the Kikori River Basin of S Papua New Guinea. Very little is known about the actual distribution of this species on New Guinea and its natural history, other than it seems to reside in rocky habitats, is terrestrial, and may be frugivorous (Flannery et al., 1985). Aplin et al. (1999) reported a specimen of this species from a late Pleistocene archaeological site on the Ayamaru Plateau, central Bird’s Head Peninsula of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya).