Paramelomys moncktoni (Thomas 1904)

[Crossomys] moncktoni Thomas 1904, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 14: 399.

Type Locality: Papua New Guinea, Northern Province, NE coast, 8°30'S, 148°20'E (Kumusi River).

Vernacular Names: Monckton's Paramelomys.

Synonyms: Paramelomys sturti (Tate 1951) .

Distribution: Papua New Guinea; reliable records are from coastal plains and foothills (sea level to 1400 m) of SE Papua New Guinea, from Wewak on the NE coast eastward to S lowlands where westernmost record is from Sturt Isl camp on the lower Fly River (from our study of specimens, and Menzies, 1996); also on Sideia Isl, just off the E coast near Milne Bay. Flannery (1995 b) recorded a specimen from Yapen Isl in NW Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) and mapped two localities on the mainland of SW Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) (Flannery, 1995 a); these should be reexamined to determine if the former is a P. platyops and the latter P. lorentzii, or if indeed they are P. moncktoni .

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc) as Melomys moncktoni .

Discussion: Horizontal and altitudinal distributions of this species have been misunderstood due to incorrect identifications of specimens. Paramelomys moncktoni was thought to have a primarily southern distribution from Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya) to Papua New Guinea, and to extend up into moss forest (see map and discussion in Flannery, 1990 b:225), but all samples from moss forest represent other species. Examples of P. moncktoni come only from the restricted range described above (based upon series in AMNH and BMNH; also see Menzies, 1996).

The forms intermedius and shawi are usually associated with P. moncktoni (Flannery, 1990 b; Laurie and Hill, 1954; Tate, 1951, under Melomys), but the holotype of shawi is a P. rubex and the type series of intermedius belongs to P. platyops (Musser’s study of specimens and Menzies, 1996). Musser and Carleton (1993) incorrectly allocated sturti to P. lorentzii, and Menzies (1996) correctly reassociated it with P. moncktoni . Possibly the E New Guinea ecological and phylogenetic equivalent of the SW New Guinea P. lorentzii .