A Shrew rat or shrew-rat is not a true rat but a rodent that resembles a shrew in physical form and, presumably, lifestyle. There are eleven known species distributed across six known genera, all from island southeast Asia, specifically the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and several Philippine Islands:
- Chrotomys, from the Philippines;
- Isarog Striped Shrew-Rat (Chrotomys gonzalesi)
- Blazed Luzon Shrew Rat (Chrotomys silaceus)
- Sibuyan Striped Shrew Rat (Chrotomys sibuyanensis)
- Crunomys, from Sulawesi and the Philippines;
- Celebes Shrew Rat (Crunomys celebensis)
- Northern Luzon Shrew Rat (Crunomys fallax)
- Mindanao Shrew Rat (Crunomys melanius)
- Melasmothrix, from Sulawesi;
- The Sulawesian Shrew Rat (Melasmothrix naso)
- Paucidentomys, from Sulawesi;
- Paucidentomys vermidax
- Rhynchomys, from the Philippines;
- Mount Data Shrew Rat (Rhynchomys soricoides)
- Tateomys, from Sulawesi.
- Long-tailed Shrew Rat (Tateomys macrocercus)
- Tate's Shrew Rat - (Tateomys rhinogradoides)
Famous quotes containing the word rat:
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)