Myoictis melas

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	DASYUROMORPHIA	DASYURIDAE

Scientific Name:

Myoictis melas

Species Authority:

(Müller, 1840)

Common Name/s:

English	–	Müller’s Three-striped Dasyure, Three-striped Dasyure
French	–	Rat Marsupial Noir

Taxonomic Notes:

Myoictis melas may represent a species complex.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s:

Leary, T., Seri, L., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J., Allison, A., James, R., Dickman, C., Lunde, D., Aplin, K., Flannery, T. & Woolley, P.

Reviewer/s:

Lamoreux, J. & Hilton-Taylor, C. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, lack of major threats, and because it is unlikely to be declining at nearly the rate required to qualify for listing in a threatened category. Taxonomic work is needed to determine whether or not M. melas includes more than a single species.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known from scattered localities across the northern and western parts of the island of New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) as well as from the islands of Salawati, Waigeo, and Yapen (Indonesia). It has been recorded from near sea level to 1,800 m asl.
Countries:	Native: Indonesia; Papua New Guinea
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	There is no population information concerning this species.
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species occurs in primary and secondary lowland and lower montane tropical forests.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats to this species, although it may be preyed upon by dogs and cats.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats to this species, although it may be preyed upon by dogs and cats.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	It occurs in several protected areas. Further studies are needed into the distribution and abundance of this species. Taxonomic work with fresh material is required to resolve the limits of the species. Westerman et al. (2006), working with limited samples, found that some populations of this species were highly divergent, nearly to a degree to be considered different species.

Conservation Actions:

It occurs in several protected areas. Further studies are needed into the distribution and abundance of this species. Taxonomic work with fresh material is required to resolve the limits of the species. Westerman et al. (2006), working with limited samples, found that some populations of this species were highly divergent, nearly to a degree to be considered different species.

Bibliography [top]

	Flannery, T. F. 1995. Mammals of the South-West Pacific and Moluccan Islands. Comstock/Cornell, Ithaca, Ny, USA. Flannery, T. F. 1995. The Mammals of New Guinea, 2nd edition. Reed Books, Sydney, Australia. Groves, C. P. 2005. Order Dasyuromorphia. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World, pp. 23-37. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Westerman, M., Young, J., Donnelllan, S., Woolley, P. A. and Krajewski, C. 2006. Molecular relationships of the New Guinean Three-striped Dasyures, (Myoictis, Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution 13: 211-222. Woolley, P. A. 2003. Reproductive biology of some dasyurid marsupials of New Guinea. In: M. E. Jones, C. R. Dickman and M. Archer (eds), Predators with Pouches: the Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia. Woolley, P. A. 2005. Revision of the Three-striped Dasyures, Genus Myoictis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), of New Guinea, with description of a new species. Records of the Australian Museum 57: 321-340.

Flannery, T. F. 1995. Mammals of the South-West Pacific and Moluccan Islands. Comstock/Cornell, Ithaca, Ny, USA.

Flannery, T. F. 1995. The Mammals of New Guinea, 2nd edition. Reed Books, Sydney, Australia.

Groves, C. P. 2005. Order Dasyuromorphia. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World, pp. 23-37. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Westerman, M., Young, J., Donnelllan, S., Woolley, P. A. and Krajewski, C. 2006. Molecular relationships of the New Guinean Three-striped Dasyures, (Myoictis, Marsupialia: Dasyuridae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution 13: 211-222.

Woolley, P. A. 2003. Reproductive biology of some dasyurid marsupials of New Guinea. In: M. E. Jones, C. R. Dickman and M. Archer (eds), Predators with Pouches: the Biology of Carnivorous Marsupials, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia.

Woolley, P. A. 2005. Revision of the Three-striped Dasyures, Genus Myoictis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae), of New Guinea, with description of a new species. Records of the Australian Museum 57: 321-340.

Citation:	Leary, T., Seri, L., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J., Allison, A., James, R., Dickman, C., Lunde, D., Aplin, K., Flannery, T. & Woolley, P. 2008. Myoictis melas. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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