NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Snow Mountains Grassland Melomys
Melomys frigicola Tate, 1951
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Snow Mountains grassland mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys frigicola), also known as the Snow Mountains grassland melomys, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is endemic to the mountainous west part of the island of New Guinea, where its range extends from Lake Habbema to the Baliem Valley, in Papua Province, Indonesia. It is present at altitudes between 1,600 and 2,200 metres (5,200 and 7,200 ft) above sea level. It is found in grassland and other disturbed areas.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern" because, although it has a fairly small range, it is plentiful in some areas, can tolerate disturbance to its habitat, and faces no particular threats. Its population may be declining somewhat, but not at a sufficient rate for the IUCN to list it in a more threatened category.
Wikipedia contributors, Snow Mountains grassland mosaic-tailed rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:06:12.102949+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melomys frigicola Tate, 1951
- Name authority
- Tate, 1951
- Common name
- Snow Mountains Grassland Melomys
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Melomys
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
- genusMelomys Thomas, 1922
- speciesMelomys frigicola Tate, 1951
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Melomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Grassland MelomysMelomys burtoni (Ramsay, 1887) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cape York MelomysMelomys capensis Tate, 1951 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-tailed Talaud MelomysMelomys caurinus (Thomas, 1921) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dollman's MelomysMelomys dollmani Rümmler, 1935 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Seram Long-tailed MelomysMelomys fulgens (Thomas, 1920) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Riama Island MelomysMelomys howi Kitchener, in Kitchener & Suyanto, 1996 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-bellied MelomysMelomys leucogaster (Jentink, 1908) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Obi Island MelomysMelomys obiensis (Thomas, 1911) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pavel's Seram MelomysMelomys paveli Helgen, 2003 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-tailed MelomysMelomys rufescens (Alston, 1877) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Buka Island MelomysMelomys spechti Flannery & Wickler, 1990 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Papua Grassland MelomysMelomys lutillus (Thomas, 1913) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=970846 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:3ZMWY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.