Melomys fulgens (Thomas 1920)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1378

Melomys fulgens (Thomas 1920)

[Uromys] fulgens Thomas 1920 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 9, 6: 426.

Type Locality: Indonesia, S Pulau Seram, Teluk Taluti (=Teloeti Bay).

Vernacular Names: Seram Long-tailed Melomys.

Distribution: Recorded only from the southern coast of Seram Isl.

Discussion: Still known only by the holotype and one other specimen (in BMNH; Helgen, 2003 b). Originally described as a Uromys , arranged as a subspecies of M. leucogaster by Rümmler (1938) and Ellerman (1941), placed in synonymy of that species by Musser and Carleton (1993), but treated as a distinct species by Tate (1951), Laurie and Hill (1954), Flannery (1995 b), and Menzies (1996). Although superficially very similar in its morphology to M. leucogaster , it has a much longer tail relative to length of head and body that is scaleless and calloused near the tip, indicating dorsal prehensility, an adaptation absent in the shorter-tailed M. leucogaster . Reviewed by Flannery (1995 b) and Helgen (2003 b).