The Northern Water Rat is a species of rodent

Rodent

Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....

 in the family Muridae

Muridae

Muridae is the largest family of mammals. It contains over 600 species found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. They have been introduced worldwide. The group includes true mice and rats, gerbils, and relatives....

.

Distribution

The northern water rat is a rodent of the genus Paraleptomys

Paraleptomys

Paraleptomys is a genus of rodent from New Guinea. It is considered part of the New Guinea Old Endemics, meaning it was part of the first wave of murine rodents to colonize the island.-Species:*Genus Paraleptomys...

appearing on New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. This species is found at altitudes of 1200–1800 m (3,937–5,905.5 ) in the North Coast Ranges, the mountains Mount Dafonsero (Cyclops Mountains

Cyclops Mountains

The Cyclops Mountains are located to the west of Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia, and north of Lake Sentani.In Papua, it is also known as Dafonsoro or Dabonsolo mountain, and is namesake for football club Persidafon.-History:...

, Indonesia), Mount Somoro (Torricelli Mountains

Torricelli Mountains

Torricelli Mountains is a mountain range in Sandaun Province, northwestern Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains are located to the east...

, Papua New Guinea) and Mount Benawa (Bewani mountains, Papua New Guinea). This species has a small, fragmented distribution and is probably quite rare. They are probably partly active during the day. By Olo (the local tribe on Mount Somoro in Sandaun Province), this animal is referred to as "timbri".

Description

P. rufilatus is larger than the other species of the genus, P. wilhelmina, and is less uniform in colour; the throat is white and the flanks are orange-like, while both body parts are brown in P. wilhelmina. The head-body length is 118–135 mm (4.6–5.3 ), tail length 127 millimetre, the hind foot length 30 millimetre, ear length 17 millimetre and weighs 54–58 g (1.9–2 ).