Cloud rat

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Cloud rats
Phloeomys pallidus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
in part
Genera

Phloeomys
Crateromys

The cloud rats are a group of arboreal and folivorous[1] nocturnal rodents native to the forests of the Philippines. There are six known species of true cloud rat, and two dwarf cloud rats species. These animals have not been studied extensively. The Filipino Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau has begun breeding Northern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rats in captivity. London Zoo, Prague Zoo, Central Park Zoo and the Bronx Zoo are the only locations outside of the Philippines where cloud rats are bred in captivity.[2] Some species of cloud rats are kept in the mini-zoo of the College of Agriculture and Forestry of the West Visayas State University in their Lambunao campus in the province of Iloilo.[citation needed] Cloud rats are slow-moving herbivores and are thought to be preyed upon by large birds. The rats are quite large, and they have been hunted by people in the Philippines for their meat, driving the rodents to near extinction.

Species

  • Giant cloud rats – genus Phloeomys
    • Phloeomys pallidus (Northern Luzon Slender-tailed Cloud Rat)
    • Phloeomys cumingi (Southern Luzon Slender-tailed Cloud Rat)
  • Bushy-tailed cloud rats – genus Crateromys
    • Crateromys schadenbergi (Giant Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat)
    • Crateromys paulus (Ilin Island Cloud Rat) - possibly extinct, collected in 1981 through a dead specimen
    • Crateromys australis (Dinagat Island Cloud Rat) - rediscovered in 2012
    • Crateromys heaneyi (Panay bushy-tailed cloud rat)
  • Dwarf cloud rat – genus Carpomys
    • Carpomys melanurus (Dwarf Cloud Rat, Short-footed Luzon Tree Rat)
    • Carpomys phaeurus (White-bellied Luzon Tree Rat)

References

  1. ↑ al.], Alexandra van der Geer ... [et (2010). Evolution of island mammals : adaptation and extinction of placental mammals on islands. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 226. ISBN 1-4051-9009-4. 
  2. ↑ "Cloud rat arrives at London Zoo". BBC News. 2004-11-11. Retrieved 2008-04-28. 
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