Uromys caudimaculatus

Habitat. Occurs in a variety of wooded areas, including primary and secondary tropical moist forest, closed sclerophyll forest, wet open woodland, swamps, and mangroves. It can be found in more open areas, such as wet open woodlands, melaleuca forests, swamps and mangroves, in lowland regions. In New Guinea, it is abundant in lowland and mid-montane regions. White-tailed Giant Rats occur at elevations from sea level to 1925 m. Food and Feeding. The White-tailed Giant Ratis a generalist omnivore. In Australia its diet varies seasonally, and includes fruits, nuts, fungi, insects, small reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and bird eggs, as well as bark. Its strong jaws allow it to break into hard-shelled fruits, giving it an adaptive advantage over other rodent species (except the Masked White-tailed Giant Rat). In Atherton Tableland, hard-shelled seeds taken include those of, among others, yellow walnut (Beilschmiedia bancroftii, Lauraceae), cream silky oak (Athertonia diversifolia, Proteaceae), and hairy walnut (Endiandra insignis, Lauraceae). Seeds are eaten on the spot, taken to a buttress or fallen log (where chewed seeds may be found in a midden), or cached up to 60 m from parent tree; buried seeds are usually covered by a few leaves, occasionally weighed down with a stick. In order to find large passalid beetles the rats tear through rotting logs and branches, and bark is a primary food source forthis species at certain times of the year. [tis known to feed also on mud crabs and other small crabs in mangroves, even foraging during daylight to find them. In New Guinea, White-tailed Giant Rats may feed on fruits of Pangium edule (Achariaceae) and Pandanus (Pandanaceae), and can be a pest in coconut plantations as they are able to open youngcoconuts.

Sumber: Muridae

Movements, Home range and Social organization. White-tailed Giant Rats are generally solitary; females with young and single individuals are usually found in their nests. Home ranges must be large for the rats to be able to move to find fruiting trees; the animals generally forage extensively in an area of at least 4 ha, and often well beyond that. Overnight movement of 500 m has been observed, and home ranges of individuals overlap extensively with those of their neighbors in complex patterns. There seems to be a large amount ofterritorial aggression.

Sumber: Muridae