Luzon striped rat

The Luzon striped rat (Chrotomys whiteheadi) is a rodent of the family Muridae found only in the Philippines, where it is endemic to the Cordillera Central mountain range on Luzon at altitudes of about 925 to 2,700 metres. Both the genus and the species were first named by Oldfield Thomas in 1895 and formally described in 1898 from a specimen collected by John Whitehead, after whom the species is named; the type locality is Mount Data. It is about the size of a black rat, with soft thick greyish-brown fur and a buff or orange stripe running down the back, edged on each side by a broad shining black band, and with a short, slender tail about half the length of the head and body. It lives in a wide variety of forested and near-forest habitats and does well even in gardens and rice fields. It is partly fossorial and feeds mainly on earthworms and other insects. The IUCN rates it Least Concern because of its large range and population.