Macrotarsomys petteri
| Macrotarsomys petteri | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Nesomyidae |
| Genus: | Macrotarsomys |
| Species: | M. petteri |
| Binomial name | |
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Macrotarsomys petteri Goodman and Soarimalala, 2005 |
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| Range of Macrotarsomys petteri on Madagascar. Red: find of a living animal; green: subfossil material; blue: subfossil material that is possibly referable to this species | |
Macrotarsomys petteri, also known as Petter's big-footed mouse, is a Malagasy rodent in the genus Macrotarsomys. With a head and body length of 150 mm (5.9 in) and body mass of 105 g (3.7 oz), Macrotarsomys petteri is the largest species of its genus. The upperparts are brown, darkest in the middle of the back, and the underparts are white to yellowish. The animal has long whiskers, short forelimbs, and long hindfeet. The tail ends in a prominent tuft of long, light hairs. The skull is robust and the molars are low-crowned and cuspidate.
Macrotarsomys petteri is now found only in the Mikea Forest of southwestern Madagascar, but subfossil records indicate that it used to be more widely distributed in southern Madagascar. Climatic changes and competition with introduced species may have led to the shift in its distribution. The Mikea Forest, the only place where it is still known to occur, is threatened by human development.
During a 2003 biological inventory of the Mikea Forest, a forest region of southwestern Madagascar, a single specimen of the rodent genus Macrotarsomys was collected. This animal turned out to be distinct from both previously known species of the genus—Macrotarsomys bastardi, which is widespread in western Madagascar, and the larger Macrotarsomys ingens, known only from the Ankarafantsika National Park. Accordingly, Steven Goodman and Voahangy Soarimalala named it in 2005 as a new species, Macrotarsomys petteri. The specific name, petteri, honors French zoologist François Petter for his contributions to the study of Malagasy rodents.M. petteri, the largest species in the genus, is most similar to M. ingens, which may be its closest relative.
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