The Mammal Fauna of Wanakipa, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea ...

• Main Authors: Richards, Stephen J., Gamui, Banak G., Helgen, Kristofer M., Opiang, Muse D., Thomas, William H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: SPIE 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Mammalia; Chiroptera; Chordata; Animalia; bats; bat; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13455606; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13455606

(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) We undertook a survey of mammal diversity and indigenous knowledge of mammals in Hewa country, in the vicinity of Wanakipa village, Southern Highlands Province, during July 2008. Specimens collected during this survey document the occurrence of 22 mammal species in the immediate area, including one monotreme, 6 marsupials, 7 rodents, and 8 bats. Two species of conservation concern, the Eastern Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bartoni (IUCN Critically Endangered) and Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus goodfellowi (IUCN Endangered) were documented by trophy skulls and bones kept by Hewa hunters. Three mammals are apparently reported from Southern Highlands Province for the first time: the bent-wing bat Miniopterus macrocneme, the long-eared bat Nyctophilus microtis, and a rodent species in the Rattus rattus species complex. The presence of this last species, an invasive rodent trapped distant from an immediate village commensal context, provides an ...