Distribution, Habitat and Behavior
This animal lives at 1000 to 2700 meters in elevation in the Central Cordillera of Papua New Guinea, including the Huon peninsula. The cold, fast-flowing streams of the mountains are its habitat.
At night it sleeps in holes at the river bank, but at day it is active and hunting for tadpoles, worms and river insects (mostly larvae). The animal gets only one young at the same time. It is only captured by Telefol hunters when river levels are low.
It is called kwypep by the Kalam tribe (Madang Province), possibly ogoyam in the Telefol language (in Sandaun Province) and momo by the Rofaifo (Southern Highlands Province), although that name is also used for other water rats, like the common Rakali. Some local names can be translated as "water sugar glider", which refers to the similarity of the fur of these two species.
Little is known about the conservation status of this species, although it has the status "least concern" in the IUCN Red List.
Read more about this topic: Earless Water Rat
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