Melomys leucogaster (Jentink 1908)

[Melomys] leucogaster (Jentink 1908), Nova Guinea, 9: 3.

Type Locality: New Guinea, S Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya), Lorentz River, Alkmaar, 300 m.

Vernacular Names: White-bellied Melomys.

Synonyms: Melomys latipes Tate and Archbold 1935 .

Distribution: New Guinea; primarily S side of Central Cordillera from the type locality in Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) east through Papua New Guinea to the Mori River on the mainland (see Flannery, 1995 a:296), sea level to 1400 m (Menzies, 1996); also recorded from Jayapura (Hollandia) on north coast of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) (Tate, 1951), Yule Isl off the coast of E Papua New Guinea in Central Province, and small treeless offshore islands (Flannery, 1995 a).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: A close morphological relative of M. rufescens and placed in "The rufescens Division" of Melomys by Menzies (1996). Tate (1951:307) recorded four specimens (AMNH 152842-152845) from Hollandia (Jayapura) on the north coast of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya, Indonesia), which is way outside of the known range of M. leucogaster, and thought by Menzies (1996:405) to be an error. Musser examined the rats, which are examples of M. leucogaster, and there is no indication in the catalog or other archival documents that they could have been collected elsewhere and mislabeled.