Dusky mosaic-tailed rat

The dusky mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys aerosus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, the family of Old World rats and mice. It is endemic to Seram Island in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, where it lives at roughly 650 to 1,830 metres above sea level and is known from only three localities: Mount Manusela inside Manusela National Park, Mount Hoaulu, and the area near Kanikeh. It was first described by O. Thomas in 1920 under the name Uromys aerosus, from a specimen collected on Mount Manusela, and the holotype is kept at the Natural History Museum in London. The Mammal Diversity Database also lists it as the dusky Seram melomys and places it in the Australasian realm. The IUCN Red List status given there is Endangered.