Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat (Diplothrix legata), recorded as Endangered
Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat (Diplothrix legata). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat

Diplothrix legata

The Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat or Ryukyu rat, also known as the rodent in the family Muridae.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Diplothrix legata
Taxonomy
Mammalia · Rodentia · Muridae · Diplothrix

The rodent

The body length of both sexes is estimated to be over 56 centimetres at sexual maturity.

Range and habitat

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.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet and breeding

This species is nocturnal and arboreal. Its diet includes both plants, such as fruits, and animals, among them invertebrates like butterflies, beetles, and slugs (of the genus Meghimatium sp.).

This species is believed to have its breeding season between September and February. Videos of nesting individuals reveal that nesting material, among them branches and leaves, were carried into the nest box between October and February.

In crisis

The species is threatened by habitat loss, predation by feral cats (with studies finding that the rat contributed 23% of feral cat's diet on Amami-Oshima), and introduced nematode and helminth parasites.

Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat, Wikidata item Q302937. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Also in this catalog

Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii
Photograph of Axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Quick answers

What is Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat?
Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat is a rodent in the family Muridae (order Rodentia) — Diplothrix legata.
What is the conservation status of Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Diplothrix legata. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat live?
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).
Why is Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat in crisis?
The species is threatened by habitat loss, predation by feral cats (with studies finding that the rat contributed 23% of feral cat's diet on Amami-Oshima), and introduced nematode and helminth parasites.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Diplothrix legata?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.