Hume's rat, Hume's hadromys
The Manipur bush rat (Hadromys humei ), also known as Hume's rat or Hume's hadromys, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in northeastern India, and is listed as endangered.
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starts withThe specimen has been described by Thomas (1886) as:
The head and body length of the largest specimen, a female, was 125 millimetres (4.9 in) long while the tail is 106 millimetres (4.2 in) long. Elsewhere, the head and body length has been given as head and body length as 95 to 140 millimetres (3.7 to 5.5 in), the tail length as 195 to 40 millimetres (7.7 to 1.6 in). The weight has been recorded as ranging from 41 to 77 grams (1.4 to 2.7 oz).
The species is endemic to northeast India, and has been recorded from several localities. These are: Angarakhata in Kamrup district (Assam), Bishnupur, Imphal, Senapati and Karong (specimen FMNH 76562) in Manipur.
Originally thought to occur in Yunnan in China also, the Chinese animals have been reclassified as Hadromys yunnanensis Yang & Wang 1987. The fossil record shows that populations of the Manipur Bush Rat existed all over Thailand right down to the Thai-Malay border during the Pleistocene. During that time, the Indo-Malayan region may have had a cooler and drier climate with savanna-like regions. A related species is known from the Siwalik fossils from northern Pakistan. These findings indicate that Hadromys humei is probably a "relict" species.
The Manipur bush rat occurs at medium altitudes from 900 to 1,300 m (3,000 to 4,300 ft) above sea level. It inhabits tropical evergreen, moist deciduous and evergreen forests and also found in secondary forests in northeastern India.
The species has been given conservation status of "Endangered - B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)" in IUCN Red List ver 3.1. The criteria for this assessment include:
The principal threats to this species are assessed to be loss of and degradation of habitat, fragmentation, and encroachment. Besides these, hunting and fire are also considered to be contributing causes.
