A New Species of Crateromys (Rodentia: Muridae) from Panay, Philippines

Quaternary Murid Rodents of Timor Part I: New Material of Coryphomys buehleri Schaub, 1937, and Description of a Second Species of the Genus

“…This combination of threatening factors is identified as the likely cause of the ongoing decline of large insular endemic rats in the Solomon Islands (Flannery, 1995b) and the Philippines (Oliver et al, 1993;Gonzales and Kennedy, 1996), and is likely to have been similarly important in the recent extinction of the ''giant rat'' fauna on Timor and in Holocene extinctions of other large rats in insular contexts throughout Wallacea and Melanesia (e.g., Flores, Musser, 1981b; Greater Bukida in the Solomon Archipelago, Flannery and Wickler, 1990).…”

“…The four known species of Crateromys are distributed allopatrically (on four Philippine islands) and occur in primary and secondary forest habitats, both in lowland forest (C. paulus on Ilin Island, C. australis on Dinagat, and C. heaneyi on Panay) and in montane pine and oak formations (C. schadenbergi on Luzon). The species of Crateromys may be mostly arboreal (Oliver et al, 1993) and are reliant on forest but have also been taken in adjacent grassland contexts (Gonzales and Kennedy, 1996). Limited information on diet and nesting sites is available for two speciesthe relatively smaller-bodied C. heaneyi of Panay (1000 g) and the largest species, C. schadenbergi, from Luzon (weight TK g).…”

Systematic Reviews of New Guinea Coccymys and “Melomys” Albidens (Muridae, Murinae) with Descriptions of New Taxa

“…Other New Guinea examples can be appreciated by viewing illustrations of skulls in Flannery (1995) of Hyomys (see also the figure in Musser, 1981b: 151), Uromys, Mallomys (see Musser, 1981b: 79), Xenuromys, some Chiruromys and Pogonomys, Melomys, Paramelomys, Pogonomelomys, Abeomelomys, and some Rattus; species in these genera, at least those with dietary information, are entirely or primarily herbivorous (see summaries in Flannery, 1995). Species of Tarsomys, Limnomys, Batomys, Crateromys, Phloeomys, and some Apomys are Philippine endemics that are entirely herbivorous or consume fruit and invertebrates (see cranial illustrations in Musser and Heaney, 1992; dietary information is recorded by Rickart et al, 1991Rickart et al, , 2003Gonzales and Kennedy, 1996;Heaney et al, 1999Heaney et al, , 2006. Endemic Sulawesian herbivores are Lenomys meyeri and Eropeplus canus (see cranial illustrations in Musser, 1981b); fruit and seeds are preferred by Haeromys minahasae (Musser, 1990, figured the skull); and a mixed diet of fruit and invertebrates is common to the three species of Margaretamys (skulls are illustrated in Musser, 1982a), along with Bunomys chrysocomus and Maxomys hellwaldii (see cranial renditions in Musser, 1991); dietary information comes from Musser's feeding in the field and survey of stomach contents.…”

Philippine Panay Island Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat (Crateromys heaneyi): A Preliminary Behavioural Study of Captive Cloud Rats

“…Behavioural studies have not been undertaken and at London Zoo the cloud rats are kept according to the principles that govern the captivity of other nocturnal rats. There has been no proper survey of population size or range for any species of cloud rat and the threat of extinction has only been estimated (Heaney et al, 1998(Heaney et al, , 2005Musser et al, 1981Musser et al, , 1985Gonzales and Kennedy, 1996;Nowak and Paradiso, 1983).…”

“…Detailed descriptions of their teeth by Gonzales and Kennedy (1996) indicate herbivory. The cloud rats scurry around the tops of oak and pine trees at altitudes of up to 400m and are seen as glimpses amongst the clouds (Heaney et al, 1998;Oliver et al, 2001).…”