Pogonomelomys bruijni (Peters and Doria 1876)

[Pogonomelomys] bruijni (Peters and Doria 1876), Ann. Mus . Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova, 8: 336.

Type Locality: W New Guinea, Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya), Pulau Salawati, off W coast of Vogelkop.

Vernacular Names: Bruijn's Pogonomelomys.

Synonyms: Pogonomelomys brassi Tate and Archbold 1941 .

Distribution: New Guinea; known only by 11 specimens from type locality and Vogelkop mainland in Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya); lower Fly River, and low altitudes on Mt Bosavi and Mt Sisa in Papua New Guinea; not recorded higher than about 60 m (Menzies, 1990; Flannery, 1995 a:312).

Conservation: IUCN – Critically Endangered.

Discussion: The lowland, larger-bodied morphological and phylogenetic counterpart of the highland P. mayeri . Aplin et al. (1999) reported material of this species from late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene archaeological sites on the Ayamaru Plateau, central Bird’s Head Peninsula of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya).