Paraleptomys Tate and Archbold 1941

Paraleptomys Tate and Archbold 1941, Am. Mus . Novit., 1101: 1.

Type Species: Paraleptomys wilhelmina Tate and Archbold 1941

Species and subspecies: 2 species:

Species Paraleptomys rufilatus Osgood 1945

Species Paraleptomys wilhelmina Tate and Archbold 1941

Discussion: Hydromys Division. Member of the New Guinea Old Endemics (Musser, 1981 c). Based on phallic and some cranial traits (Lidicker, 1968; Tate, 1951), Paraleptomys has traditionally been phylogenetically linked to Leptomys, which is more closely allied to Pseudohydromys (which includes Mayremys and Neohydromys), and Xeromys than to any member of the Hydromys Division (see account of Leptomys). Although cranial conformation is similar in Paraleptomys and Leptomys, the former is more like Hydromys in possessing a primitive murine cephalic arterial pattern (derived configuration in Leptomys), lacking third upper and lower molars (retained in Leptomys), and having basined occlusal patterns on the remaining molars (much more elaborate occlusal surfaces in Leptomys). We suggest that Paraleptomys is a terrestrial representative of our Hydromys Division ( Hydromys, Parahydromys, Microhydromys, and Crossomys), and not our Xeromys Division ( Xeromys, Leptomys, and Pseudohydromys); this hypothesis requires testing with data from additional morphological and molecular sources.