Melomys lorentzii (Jentink, 1908)

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 617

Melomys lorentzii (Jentink, 1908) . Nova Guinea, 9:3.

TYPE LOCALITY: New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Lorentz River, Resi Camp, 900 m .

DISTRIBUTION: New Guinea; specimens are from Vogelkop (Oransbari), Weyland Range (midaltitudes), and along the south side of Central Cordillera, from Rapare River in SW Irian Jaya to middle altitudes and lowlands of the Fly River drainage in Papua New Guinea; limits unknown. Altitudinal range from sea level to about 1500 m.

SYNONYMS: naso , sturti , weylandi.

COMMENTS: The form naso is usually listed as a subspecies of M. levipes ( Flannery, 1990b; Laurie and Hill, 1954), but Rümmler (1938) correctly identified the holotype as an M. lorentzii . Tate's (1951:296) sturti was described as a subspecies of M. moncktoni , but the holotype and type series are examples of M. lorentzii . The form iveylandi, from the Weyland Range in SE Irian Jaya, is usually listed as a subspecies of M. levipes , but specimens in the type series are examples of M. lorentzii .

Usually listed as a subspecies of M. levipes ( Laurie and Hill, 1954; Tate, 1951), lorentzii is a distinct species that resembles M. levipes in many morphological traits; however, M. moncktoni may be closer to M. lorentzii judged by Menzies's (1990) morphometric similarity coefficient analysis. Significance of the appreciable variation in body size among samples needs to be assessed in a revision of M. lorentzii , and a phylogenetic inquiry into its closest relatives.