Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat
| Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Stuffed specimen. Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Diplothrix |
| Species: | D. legata
|
| Binomial name | |
| Diplothrix legata (Thomas, 1906)
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat or Ryukyu rat (Diplothrix legata), also known as the rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only extant species in the genus Diplothrix and is endemic to the central Ryukyu Islands of Japan (Amami-oshima, Tokuno-shima, and Okinawa-jima). Its natural habitat consists of temperate forests.