NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Paula's Long-nosed Rat
Paulamys naso (Musser, 1981)
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
Paulamys is a genus of rat. Its only known member is Paulamys naso, a species endemic to Flores Island, Indonesia. Paulamys naso was first described from subfossil fragments collected in the 1950s by Theodor Verhoeven and was named Floresomys naso by Guy Musser in 1981. Since Floresomys was preoccupied, Musser changed the name to Paulamys, after Verhoeven's life partner Paula Hamerlinck. A living specimen was reported from the montane forest of western Flores in 1989. It is recorded as common between 1,000 and 2,000 m (3,280 and 6,560 ft) above sea level on the volcanic mountain Gunung Ranakah, but is believed to be threatened by habitat destruction. It is thought to prefer closed habitats.
The Flores murid genera Papagomys, Komodomys and Paulamys are more closely related to each other than to other murids, suggesting an adaptive radiation. It is a relatively small-sized species, with a body mass of around 100–200 grams (0.22–0.44 lb) It is suggested to be an omnivore, consuming fungus and invertebrates, and to engage in burrowing.
Wikipedia contributors, Paulamys; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:46:20.421181+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Paulamys naso (Musser, 1981)
- Name authority
- (Musser, 1981)
- Common name
- Paula's Long-nosed Rat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Paulamys
- 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
- genusPaulamys Musser, 1986
- speciesPaulamys naso (Musser, 1981)
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=585457 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:765CZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.