Hyomys goliath

242.

Eastern White-eared Giant Rat

Hyomys goliath

French: Hyomys a oreilles blanches / German: Ostliche WeiRohr-Riesenratte / Spanish: Rata gigante de orejas blancas oriental

Other common names: Eastern Hyomys

Taxonomy. Mus goliath Milne-Edwards, 1900,

highlands of Aroa River Basin, Central Province, Papua New Guinea.

Four species of Hyomys have been described by various authors. In 1951, G. H. H. Tate made a revision of the genus and considered H. meeki to be a synonym of H. goliath; he demonstrated distinct characters of goliath compared with dammermani, and showed that strobilurus is a synonym of goliath. Although H. strobilurus has been considered a synonym since then, it was considered a subspecies by Flanneryin 1995, which is followed here since it is morphologically distinguishable and has a disjunct distribution. In a very recent molecular phylogeny, H. goliath is found in the same clade as some Pogonomys species. Two subspecies are recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

H.g.goliathMilne-Edwards,1900—ENewGuineaCentralCordillerafromtheHagenareaEtoextremeEofthePapuanPeninsula.

H. g. strobilurus Rimmler, 1933 — Huon Peninsula, E New Guinea..

Descriptive notes. Head—body 360-390 mm,tail 300-381 mm, ear 18-20 mm, hindfoot 64 mm; weight 750-945 g. This large rodent resembling its congener, the Western White-eared Giant Rat (H. dammermani), has a small head and a uniform brownish-gray pelage with very long (60 mm) white guard hairs. The scaly tail is slightly shorter (83 90% oflatter) than head-body length and the terminal ¢.200 mm are of a yellowishwhite color contrasting with brown basal part. There is a white patch behind each ear, and the underparts are buffy white. Subspecies goliath has shorter and more pointed tail scales and has a more prominent patch of white behind the ears, while strobilurus has a less prominent or absent white patch behind the ears, and more elongated and slightly roundertail scales. Skull is robust and large. Females bear two pairs of mammae.

Habitat. Tropical moistforest, forest-edge habitats, old gardens, and regrowth areas of forest close to villages, between 1400 m and 2800 m.

Food and Feeding. Eastern White-eared Giant Rats eat shoots of wild bamboo, palms, and fruits of wild pandanus.

Breeding. Females generally give birth to a single young.

Activity patterns. Eastern White-eared Giant Rats are nocturnal and spend the day in a burrow or a hole. They are terrestrial and live in and on the ground, where they make burrows or use holes beneath tree roots or under rocks of fallen trees.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List because it seems not to be adversely affected by human activities anywhere in its range. It may cause some damage to gardens.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995b), Steppan & Schenk (2017), Tate (1951).