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 Madagascar and other IslandsThe Biological Wealth of an Impoverished Country: Mammals: Page 5 Among Madagascar's 11 species of murid rodents are several extremely bizarre forms. The largest is the Giant Jumping Rat (Hypogeomys antimena), the size of a rabbit and weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces (Preston-Mafham 1991). Restricted to a small area in western dry, deciduous forests north of Morondava, in west-central Madagascar, its entire range is thought to encompass only 39 square miles (Preston-Mafham 1991). Once far more widely distributed, remains have been found in southwest and central Madagascar (Garbutt 1999). These huge rodents search for food, such as fallen fruit, on the forest floor and feed by sitting on their hindquarters and holding food in their forepaws like a rabbit (Garbutt 1999). Giant Jumping Rats build deep burrows and, unlike the vast majority of rodents, a mated pair maintains long bonds with one another and with their young (Garbutt 1999). Male young leave after one year, and females stay with both parents for two to three years (Garbutt 1999). Only one or two young are born in a litter, and predation by Fossa and the Madagascar Ground Boa (Acrantophis madagascariensis) is high (Garbutt 1999). With no reserve and a habitat that continues to decline, this huge-eared rodent is in danger of extinction. A reserve is planned for this species, which is listed as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Madagascar. Island of Ghosts” filmed the Giant Jumping Rat in the wild, one of the only videos of this fast-disappearing species (see Video section).
Eight of Madagascar's native rodents, or 73 percent, are listed by the IUCN in various categories of threat. Two are considered Critical: the Madagascar Mouse (Macrotarsomys ingens) and the Madagascar Rat (Eliurus penicillatus). The mouse is known only from a single area in northwestern Madagascar, in dry deciduous forests where the type specimen was found, and it is thought to be almost totally arboreal and nocturnal (Garbutt 1999). The Madagascar Rat has not been seen since the type specimen was collected in central-eastern montane rainforest.
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