Hydromys shawmayeri Hinton 1943

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 : 1334

Hydromys shawmayeri Hinton 1943

Hydromys shawmayeri Hinton 1943 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 11, 10: 552.

Type Locality: Papua New Guinea, SE Bismarck Range, Purari-Ramu Divide, Baiyanka, 6500 ft (1980 m).

Vernacular Names: Shaw Mayer's Water Rat.

Distribution: New Guinea; recorded only along the Papua New Guinea Central Cordillera from Hagen Range in the west to Mt Kaindi area in the east (localities 1-4 that were mapped as " H. habbema " in Musser and Piik, 1982:156).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Although identified as H. habbema , specimens from Papua New Guinea were noted to exhibit significant morphological differences from true H. habbema in Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya), not only in body size but also in certain cranial proportions ( Mahoney, 1968; Musser and Piik, 1982; Tate, 1951). These and other contrasts support the hypothesis of eastern ( H. shawmayeri ) and western ( H. habbema ) montane species, a pattern that is not uncommon to other New Guinea murines (e. g., Pseudohydromys murinus and P. occidentalis ). Mahoney (1968) discussed the problems associated with the original holotype of shawmayeri , which was described as a species of Baiyankamys . Reviewed by Flannery (1995 a).