A new mammal species has been discovered in the Mekkonga mountains in the southeast of Sulawesi (Indonesia). The new species is an arboreal rodent belonging to the genus Margaretamys, and has been named Margaretamys Christinae.
The new species was captured at 1537 m in tropical montane rainforest. The genus Margaretamys (Muridae) now contains 4 species, all endemic of Sulawesi and all adapted to arboreal life. The species are of conservation concern since two of them are listed as "Endangered" and "Vulnerable" in the IUCN red list.
Endangered
From the zoogeographic point of view this find confirms the adaptive radiation of rodents in the mountains of Sulawesi; the new species has been proposed as "Endangered" for the IUCN red list.
The goal of the expedition was to explore the Mekkonga mountains, following the footsteps of the 1932 expedition by the German explorer Gerd Heinrich. Due to the lack of data, information on the conservation status and survival of the mammal species discovered by Heinrich was unknown. In addition to the discovery of a new mammal species it was possible to confirm the persistence of Prosciurillus abstrusus a ground squirrel endemic to the Mekkonga mountains and of a species of Maxomys, also endemic of the mountain range.
From the zoogeographic point of view this find confirms the adaptive radiation of rodents in the mountains of Sulawesi; the new species has been proposed as "Endangered" for the IUCN red list.
The goal of the expedition was to explore the Mekkonga mountains, following the footsteps of the 1932 expedition by the German explorer Gerd Heinrich. Due to the lack of data, information on the conservation status and survival of the mammal species discovered by Heinrich was unknown. In addition to the discovery of a new mammal species it was possible to confirm the persistence of Prosciurillus abstrusus a ground squirrel endemic to the Mekkonga mountains and of a species of Maxomys, also endemic of the mountain range.
The field expedition was carried out by Alessio Mortelliti in collaboration with some inhabitants of nearby villages, which were crucial for finding the way through the thick tropical rainforest of the Mellonga mountains.
The description of the species has been carried out in collaboration with Dr. Riccardo Castiglia, researcher at the Universoty of Rome "La Sapienza", Giovanni Amori (CNR-ISE), Ibnu Maryanto (LIPI - Bogor) and Guy G. Musser (American Museum of Natural History, NY). The discovery has been the focus of a scientific paper and will thus appear in Volume 25 of the scientific journal Tropical Zoology.
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