Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat

Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Genus:	Phloeomys
Species:	P. pallidus
Binomial name
Phloeomys pallidus Nehring, 1890

The Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat (Phloeomys pallidus) is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is only found in the northern and central part of Luzon, the Philippines. It prefers forest and scrub, but also occurs in degraded habitats such as plantations.^[1] It occurs from sea level to an altitude of about 2,200 metres (7,200 ft).^[2] In some areas it overlaps with the rarer Giant Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat, but that species mainly occurs at higher altitudes than the Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat.^[2]

The Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat has been extirpated in some regions because of hunting,^[2] but overall it appears to be able to withstand hunting pressure and in general it remains common and widespread.^[1] It is nocturnal and feeds on various types of vegetation.^[2]

This very large rodents weighs 1.9–2.6 kilograms (4.2–5.7 lb) and is 75–77 centimetres (30–30 in) long.^[2] The colour of its relatively long pelage, which also covers the tail, is highly variable, but usually it is mostly very pale grey-brown or white with some dark brown or black patches.^[2] Individuals that are almost entirely white also occur.^[2]

References

• Musser, Guy G.; Carleton, Michael D. (16 November 2005). "Superfamily Muroidea (pp. 894-1531)". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=13001663. 

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