Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Infraordo: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Euarchontoglires
Ordo: Rodentia
Subordo: Myomorpha
Superfamilia: Muroidea
Familia: Muridae
Subfamilia: Murinae
Genus: Baiyankamys
Species (2): B. habbema - B. shawmayeri
Name
Baiyankamys Hinton, 1943: 552
Type species: Baiyankamys shawmayeri Hinton, 1943, by original designation.
References
Primary references
Hinton, M.A.C. 1943. Preliminary diagnoses of five new murine rodents from New Guinea. Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 11, 10(68): 552–557. DOI: 10.1080/03745481.1943.9728040 Reference page.
Additional references
Mahoney, J. A. 1968. Baiyankamys Hinton, 1943 (Muridae, Hydromyinae), a New Guinea rodent genus named from an incorrectly associated skin and skull (Hydromyinae, Hydromys) and mandible (Murinae, Rattus). Mammalia 32(1): 64–71. DOI: 10.1515/mamm.1968.32.1.64 Reference page.
Helgen, K.M. 2005. The amphibious murines of New Guinea (Rodentia, Muridae): The generic status of Baiyankamys and description of a new species of Hydromys. Zootaxa 913: 1–20. Abstract & excerpt. Reference page.
Baiyankamys is a genus of amphibious murid rodents. It was originally described, along with the species Baiyankamys shawmayeri by Hinton in 1943 after he found the remains of a single individual in south east of the Bismarck Mountain Range, north east New Guinea. Tate, in 1951 and, Laurie and Hill in 1954, confirmed the existence of both the species and genus.[1]
Distribution of the murine rodent genera Baiyankamys, Crossomys and Hydromys (except for the widespread Hyperolius chrysogaster) on New Guinea
Classification
Hinton described Baiyankamys as similar in appearance to the species Hydromys habbema but differed due to its unreduced pinnae and its lower teeth. It was described as having three lower molars on both sides of the lower jaw, whereas other genera of amphibious murines in New Guinea have only two.[1]
In 1968 Mahoney discovered that the specimen of B. shawmayeri was a composite resulting from an incorrectly associated mandible of the species Rattus niobe and the skull of a small water rat. When the correct mandible was found in the BMNH collections Mahoney proposed that, based on their similarity B. shawmayeri should be classified as a synonym of H. habbema. However, Musser and Carleton (1993, 2005) and Flannery (1995) later proposed that the species Hinton described should be classified as Hydromys shawmayeri, closely related but distinct from H. habbema, based on the fact that they are easily distinguished by external and cranial traits,.[2]
In 2005 Helgen proposed that generic name of Baiyankamys be used for shawmayeri and habbema, removing them both from the genus Hydromys. This was due to morphological differences in phallic anatomy, and many external and craniodental traits.[2]
Appearance
Baiyankamys is distinguished by soft, dense, frosted grey upperparts; a tail that is longer than its head-body length; a long, narrow snout, and extremely narrow incisors.[2]
Habitat
Baiyankamys habbema is found in a small region of the upper montane forests of the Snow Mountains of western New Guinea, between 2800 and 3600 m. Baiyankamys shawmayeri is found in lower to upper montane forests between 1500 and 2600 m in eastern and central highlands regions of Papua New Guinea.[2]
References
Mahoney, J.A. (1968). "Baiyankamys Hinton, 1943 (Muridae, Hydromyinae), a New Guinea rodent genus named for an incorrectly associated skin and skull (Hydromyinae, Hydromys) and mandible (Murinae, Rattus)". Mammalia. 32 (1): 64–71. doi:10.1515/mamm.1968.32.1.64.
Helgen, K.M. (2005). "The amphibious murines of New Guinea (Rodentia, Muridae): the generic status of Baiyankamys and description of a new species of Hydromys". Zootaxa. 913: 1–20. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.913.1.1. hdl:10088/8453. ISSN 1175-5326.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
