| Squirrel-toothed rat Temporal range: Pleistocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Anisomys Thomas, 1904 |
| Species: | A. imitator |
| Binomial name | |
| Anisomys imitator Thomas, 1904 | |
The squirrel-toothed rat (Anisomys imitator), also known as the New Guinea giant rat, powerful-toothed rat, uneven-toothed rat, or narrow-toothed giant rat,[2] is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only species in the genus Anisomys and is found in New Guinea.
The species has been known to eat karuka nuts (Pandanus julianettii),[3] and growers will put platforms or other obstacles on the trunks of the trees to keep the pests out.[4][3]
Names
It is known as gudi-ws or gudl-ws in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea.[5]
References
- ^ Leary, T.; Seri, L.; Flannery, T.; Wright, D.; Hamilton, S.; Helgen, K.; Singadan, R.; Allison, A.; James, R.; Bonaccorso, F.; et al. (2008). "Anisomys imitator". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
- ^ Wrobel, Murray (2006). Elsevier's Dictionary of Mammals: In Latin, English, German, French and Italian. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-444-51877-4.
- ^ a b Stilltoe, Paul (1983). Roots of the Earth: Crops in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Manchester, UK: Manchester university Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-0874-0. LCCN 82-62247. OCLC 9556314.
- ^ French, Bruce R. (1982). Growing food in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PDF). AFTSEMU (Agricultural Field Trials, Surveys, Evaluation and Monitoring Unit) of the World Bank funded project in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. pp. 64–71. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.
- Musser, G.G.; Carleton, M.D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.