Long-nosed paramelomys

The long-nosed paramelomys (Paramelomys naso) is a small rodent of the family Muridae that lives only on the island of New Guinea. It is common in the lowlands of the south and west-central parts of the island, in Papua Province, and also on Wokam Island in the Aru Islands, where it inhabits subtropical and tropical lowland forest up to about 1000 metres. It closely resembles Paramelomys levipes and was first treated as a synonym of Melomys levipes lorentzii, then as a subspecies of Melomys levipes; when the genus Melomys was redefined in 1996 and Paramelomys was raised from a subgenus, the two became separate species, told apart by the slightly wider molars of P. naso. Adults measure 168 to 188 millimetres in head and body length with a tail of 121 to 132 millimetres, and have short smooth brown fur above, a grey head and grey to white underparts. The tail is black with one hair per scale. The IUCN Red List treats the species as Least Concern because of its wide range and large population.