Waiomys, Rowe & Achmadi & Esselstyn, 2014

Rowe, Kevin C., Achmadi, Anang S. & Esselstyn, Jacob A., 2014, Convergent evolution of aquatic foraging in a new genus and species (Rodentia: Muridae) from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, Zootaxa 3815 (4), pp. 541-564 : 546

Waiomys new genus

Type species. Waiomys mamasae , the new species described below.

Diagnosis. A genus of rodent in the family Muridae , subfamily Murinae that possesses soft, fine, extremely dense grey-brown dorsal fur; similarly textured pale grey ventral fur; small eyes; short ears almost entirely covered dorsally by fur; long tail with white ventral vibrissae; broad, dorso-ventrally flattened muzzle; moderately dense facial vibrissae; long hindfeet that lack webbing or stiff hairs; one white spot ca. 10 mm in diameter on each side of the rump; absence of hypothenar pad on hindfoot; presence of large thenar pad on the lateral margin of the hindfoot; three molars in both maxillary and mandibular tooth rows; narrow incisors with pale orange enamel; absence of a masseteric process; large ovate infraorbital foramen; and large foramen magnum. Phylogenetic analyses place the genus in a clade containing the Sulawesi shrew rats Melasmothrix and Paucidentomys ( Figure 3 ).

Etymology. The generic name combines the Mamasa Toraja ( Gordon 2005) word ‘wai’ (water; pronounced ‘why’) with the Greek ‘ mys ’ (mouse) in reference to the semi-aquatic lifestyle of the animal and in recognition of the local Mamasan people who call the animal ‘water rat’ in their language, Mamasa Toraja.

Description. The same as for the only know species in the genus, which is described below.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Phylogenetic position of Waiomys mamasae in Murinae, inferred with Bayesian analysis of a partitioned concatenation of 4 nuclear loci and 1 mitochondrial locus. Nodes supported by>95% Bayesian posterior probability and>90% maximum likelihood bootstrap value are marked with black circles.