Flores Giant Rat
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219132295
2008-06-13T18:47:29Z
Ucucha
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-interwiki to article about the genus, not the species
{{Taxobox
| name = Flores Giant Rat
| status = VU
| status_system = iucn2.3
| fossil_range = Subrecent to Recent
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Rodent]]ia
| superfamilia = [[Muroidea]]
| familia = [[Muridae]]
| subfamilia = [[Murinae]]
| genus = '''''Papagomys'''''
| genus_authority = Sody, 1941
| species = '''''P. armandvillei'''''
| binomial = ''Papagomys armandvillei''
| binomial_authority = ([[F A Jentink|Jentink]], [[1892]])
}}
The '''Flores Giant Rat''' (''Papagomys armandvillei'') occurs on the island of [[Flores]] in [[Indonesia]]. Head and body length is 41–45 cm and tail length is 33–70 cm, making the Flores giant rat at least twice the size of an average [[Brown Rat]] (''Rattus norvegicus'') with a 25 cm long body and 15 cm long tail. It is the only species in the [[genus]] '''''Papagomys'''''.
Musser (1981) describes the rats as having small, round ears, a chunky body and a small tail, and that the giant rat of Flores appears to be adapted for life on the ground and refuge in burrows. The rat has dense dark hair (pelage). Analysis of the teeth of the Flores Giant Rat suggests that the rat has a diet of leaves, buds, fruit, and certain kinds of insect as inferred by large [[Molar (tooth)|hypsodont]] teeth.
''P. armandvillei'' is listed as vulnerable by the [[IUCN]]. A related species, ''P. theodorverhoeveni'', is known from [[subfossil]] remains from 3,000 - 4,000 years ago. This species is presumed to be [[extinct]], but may still exist on the island.
==See also==
* [[Island gigantism]]
==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors=Baillie|year=1996|id=15975|title=Papagomys armandvillei|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Listed as Vulnerable (VU B1+2c v2.3)
* Musser, G.G. ''The Giant Rat of Flores and its Relatives East of Borneo and Bali''. 1981. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 169:67-176.
[[Category:Old World rats and mice]]
[[es:Papagomys armandvillei]]
[[it:Papagomys armandvillei]]
[[nl:Papagomys armandvillei]]