Laotian rock rat Laonastes aenigmamus Least concern
Where the Laotian rock rat lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.
Pin and shaded countries are approximate. The pin is a representative wild-collected museum specimen (a central record among 128 open-licence GBIF records – few open-licence observations were available), not an official range. Method · Records on GBIF · See mice, rats & other rodents on the world map
| Scientific name | Laonastes aenigmamus |
|---|---|
| Group | Mice, rats & other rodents |
| Status | Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label) |
| Found in | 1 country |
| Continents | Asia |
| Class | Mammal |
| Order | Rodentia |
| Family | Diatomyidae |
Where does the Laotian rock rat live?
Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Laotian rock rat in 1 country or territory across Asia.
Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.
Is the Laotian rock rat endangered?
The Laotian rock rat’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the Laotian rock rat?
The Laotian rock rat (Laonastes aenigmamus) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Diatomyidae, genus Laonastes. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)
About the Laotian rock rat
The Laotian rock rat or kha-nyou (Laonastes aenigmamus, Lao: ຂະຍຸ), sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a species of rodent found in the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina Jenkins and coauthors, who considered the animal to be so distinct from all living rodents, they placed it in a new family, Laonastidae. It is in the monotypic genus Laonastes.
In 2006, the classification of the Laotian rock rat was disputed by Mary Dawson and coauthors. They suggested the rat belongs to the ancient fossil family Diatomyidae, which was thought to have been extinct for 11 million years, since the late Miocene. It would thereby represent a Lazarus species. The animals resemble large, dark rats with hairy, thick tails like those of a squirrel. Their skulls are very distinctive and have features that separate them from all other living mammals.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Laotian rock rat (revision 1381257927), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q110727 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).
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