Manus Island mosaic-tailed rat

The Manus Island mosaic-tailed rat, also called the Manus melomys (Melomys matambuai), is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the island of Manus in Papua New Guinea, which means it occurs nowhere else, and it lives in forest habitats where it is largely arboreal, spending much of its life in trees. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as endangered. The reasons given are that the natural forest on the island is progressively being cleared and that the total area in which the species occurs is less than 1,800 square kilometres (690 square miles). The scientific name places it in the genus Melomys, the group that gives the mosaic-tailed rats their common name.