Large Tree Mouse

discussion

Discussion: Until the revision by Dennis and Menzies (1979), this species was known as P. mollipilosus (Tate, 1951), but the holotype of that taxon is a P. macrourus (see account of that species). Dennis and Menzies (1979) also included fergussoniensis from the D’Entrecasteaux Isls, which we separate as a distinct species (see that account). Pogonomys loriae has traditionally been considered to be montane, occurring " generally over 1500 m, " (Dennis and Menzies, 1979: 330), which is generally accurate but there are interesting exceptions. Five specimens listed by Tate (1951) from the upper Fly River near the foothills of the Central Cordillera were collected at about 100 m, which is the lowest record of the species. Flannery (1995 a: 316) noted that " In northern New Guinea it is restricted to a narrow elevational band of between approximately 200 and 800 metres. Above this, it is replaced by Pogonomys macrourus. " This is unusual because elsewhere P. macrourus is found in lowlands and mid-elevations and is usually replaced at higher elevations by P. loriae. Most of the distributional records of P. loriae are from Papua New Guinea. The species has not been recorded from the Snow M

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

distribution

Distribution: New Guinea; Recorded only from the Vogelkop and Weyland Range in Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya), but widespread in Papua New Guinea from the Telefomin area in the west through the Central Cordillera to the E flanks of the Owen Stanley Range in the east; also found in the N coastal Torricelli Mtns, the Huon Peninsula and the upper Fly River drainage; 100 - 3000 m (Flannery, 1995 a and Dennis and Menzies, 1979: 328).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

materials_examined

Type Locality: Papua New Guinea, Central Province, mountains behind Astrolabe Range, near Mt Wori, Haveri, 700 m (Laurie and Hill, 1954: 96, provided details).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

discussion

COMMENTS: The morphological and geographic definition of this species is unsatisfactory. Significance of the appreciable geographic variation in external, cranial, and dental dimensions among samples need to be assessed by a careful revision; more than one species may be represented. Mahoney and Richardson (1988: 170) catalogued taxonomic, distributional, and biological references for the Australian sample (which was identiifed as P. mollipilosus by Watts and Aslin, 1981); we provisionally include it under P. loriae.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae