Alpine Mallomys

Open encyclopedia reference

The alpine woolly rat (Mallomys gunung) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.

It is found only in West Papua, Indonesia. It is found only at high elevations, has an extent of occurrence less than 5,000 km2, and is known from only two localities (although may be present at more). The combination of hunting, predation, and slow breeding means that the population size is probably declining (has certainly declined substantially according to the Holocene fossil records). This species is very likely to be increasingly affected by global warming, which increases fire frequency and is causing the extent of habitat to decline. When specimens were brought to a museum the female rats were pregnant with only one baby, so it is assumed that the rat gives birth to only one offspring at a time.

Because very little is known about the Alpine woolly rat, its diet is assumed to be similar to that of a typical wild rats, barring climate variations.

The Alpine woolly rat mainly eats plants, seeds and various small animals.

Wikipedia contributors, Alpine woolly rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:22:13.465275+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Mallomys gunung Flannery, Aplin & Groves, 1989

Name authority

Flannery, Aplin & Groves, 1989

Common name

Alpine Mallomys

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Mallomys

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
15. subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
16. genusMallomys Thomas, 1898
17. speciesMallomys gunung Flannery, Aplin & Groves, 1989

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Mallomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 672 records assigned to Muridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585312 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3XPCC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.