A new species of bandicoot in the genus Peroryctes (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) from Kwiyawagi, West Baliem Valley of Papua Province, Indonesia
Abstract
Many bandicoot species occur in New Guinea and surrounding islands. Here, a new species of Peroryctes is described from the West Baliem River Valley, western New Guinea (Papua Province, Indonesia). Morphometric analyses, qualitative morphological examination, and formal morphological phylogenetic assessment clearly distinguish this new taxon from the two currently recognized species of Peroryctes, P. raffrayanus and P. broadbentii. Our attempt to recover molecular data for this new taxon recovered poor quality sequences insufficient for analysis. Little is yet known about the basic biology of this new species, but it is rare and may be threatened.
