NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Flores Island Spelaeomys
Spelaeomys florensis Hooijer, 1957
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
Spelaeomys florensis, also known as the Flores cave rat, is an extinct species of rat that was formerly endemic to the island of Flores, Indonesia. MacPhee and Flemming assessed this species to be extinct in 1996, but believed it probably died out before 1500. This specimen is only known from subfossil remains, including at Liang Bua cave. It is the only member of the genus Spelaeomys. It was large sized species with a body mass of around 0.6–1.6 kilograms (1.3–3.5 lb). It is suggested to have been arboreal animal that lived in closed forests, and to have been herbivorous, consuming leaves and flowers.
Wikipedia contributors, Spelaeomys; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:45:36.129574+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Spelaeomys florensis Hooijer, 1957
- Name authority
- Hooijer, 1957
- Common name
- Flores Island Spelaeomys
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Spelaeomys
- Extinction status
- Recorded extinct
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
- genusSpelaeomys Hooijer, 1957
- speciesSpelaeomys florensis Hooijer, 1957
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
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=585570 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:4YHCN. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.