Quaternary Murid Rodents of Timor Part I: New Material of Coryphomys buehleri Schaub, 1937, and Description of a Second Species of the Genus

A Systematic Review of SulawesiBunomys(Muridae, Murinae) with the Description of Two New Species

“…Bunomys Thomas, 1910Frateromys Sody 1941 TYPE SPECIES: Mus coelestis Thomas, 1896: 248. EMENDED DIAGNOSIS: A genus in Rattini (Lecompte et al, 2008;Aplin and Helgen, 2010) or Rattus Division (Musser and Carleton, 2005) of Murinae within Muridae (as delimited by Musser and Carleton, 2005) that is distinguished from all other described murine genera by the following combination of traits: (1) all species terrestrial in habitus; (2) dorsal pelage covering head and body dense and soft, with guard hairs only slightly longer than overhairs, so coat has an even surface, dorsal coat dark gray, dark bluegray, brownish gray or brown speckled with buff and black; (3) ventral coat soft and dense, whitish gray, dark grayish white, bluegray lightly speckled with white, grayish pale buff to ochraceous gray, demarcation between upperparts and underparts inconspicuous; (4) muzzle elongate in most species, ears rubbery in texture, gray to brown; (5) tail shorter than combined length of head and body, coequal or slightly longer (mean values of LT/LHB range from 79% to 102%), scales small, their annuli overlapping, three short hairs associated with each scale, dorsal surface grayish bown to brown, ventral surface ranges from white (tail is bicolored) to brown (tail is monocolored), a white tip occurs infrequently or is usual, depending upon the species; (6) digits white, dorsal surfaces of carpal and metacarpal regions white to brown, palmar surface adorned with usual number of tubercles found in murines (three interdigitals, a thenar, and a hypothenar), hind foot elongate with full complement of plantar tubercles (four interdigitals, a thenar, and a hypothenar), front claws elongate in three species; (7) two pairs of inguinal teats; (8) testes of adults large relative to length of head and body (22%) or smaller (8%-15%); (9) rostrum of adults elongate and either narrow or broad, interorbital and postorbital margins bounded by low ridges, zygomatic arches flare from sides of skull, posterior zygomatic root situated low on braincase, braincase boxlike (moderately wide and deep), occiput deep, no cranial flexion; (10) zygomatic plate wide or narrow, its anterior margin either barely projecting beyond dorsal maxillary root of zygomatic arch or bowed beyond it, its posterior edge even with the anterior third of the first molar; (11) squamosal intact (not perforated by a subsquamosal foramen); (12) alisphenoid struts absent; (13) incisive foramina long in most species and moderately wide, their posterior margins ending well anterior to front faces of first molars; (14) molar rows diverge slightly posteriorly, bony palate short with its posterior margin even with back faces of third molars or extending slightly beyond them, palatal surface with moderately deep palatine grooves, posterior palatine foramina at level where second and third molar touch; (15) moderately long and narrow sphenopalatine vacuities; (16) wide pterygoid plates with moderately deep pterygoid fossa, small sphenopterygoid openings; (17) m...…”

Archboldomys(Muridae: Murinae) Reconsidered: A New Genus and Three New Species of Shrew Mice from Luzon Island, Philippines

“…The sister taxon to these three genera is the genus Apomys, forest mice that also prefer soft-bodied invertebrates, but additionally feed on seeds and small fruits. These four genera form a clade that is endemic to the Philippines (referred to informally as the Chrotomys Division by Musser and Carleton, 2005, or as members of the Hydromyini within the Murinae by Aplin and Helgen, 2010; see also Jansa and Weksler, 2004;Rowe et al, 2008;Heaney et al, 2009), exhibiting spectacular ecological and morphological diversity, from small arboreal mice to ground-hopping, longsnouted, shrewlike rats. At least 45 species are currently known (Heaney et al, 2010.…”

Human Palaeoecological Interactions and Owl Roosting at Tron Bon Lei, Alor Island, Eastern Indonesia

“…While burning on one of the teeth is not direct evidence of human consumption, their association with archaeological material dated between 18,890 and 19,235 cal BP, lack of digestion, their large size outside the usual prey range of the three owl species (Tyto delicatula, Ninox boobook, Otus sp.) known today from Alor (Trainor et al 2012), and their record of consumption on Timor (Aplin and Helgen, 2010;Glover 1986), is indirect evidence that they were likely consumed by TBL's prehistoric inhabitants.…”

“…Declines in terrestrial faunal diversity are reported from Wallacea from before the time Homo sapiens first arrived in the region (e.g., Louys et al 2016;van den Bergh et al 2009), such that by the time of their arrival the only terrestrial resources available to first H. sapiens appears to have been rodents, medium to small reptiles, birds, and amphibians. Thus, with the exception of a few inland sites on Timor (Aplin and Helgen 2010;Glover 1986;O'Connor and Aplin 2007) and Sulawesi (Simons and Bulbeck 2004), subsistence behaviors of early modern humans in Wallacea appear to have focused on marine resources, even in the earliest occupation levels sampled (O'Connor et al 2011;Samper Carro et al 2016;Sazbó and Amesbury 2010).…”