| Petter's big-footed mouse | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Nesomyidae |
| Genus: | Macrotarsomys |
| Species: | M. petteri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Macrotarsomys petteri Goodman and Soarimalala, 2005
| |
| |
| Range of Macrotarsomys petteri on Madagascar. Red: find of a living animal; green: subfossil material; blue: subfossil material that is possibly referable to this species | |
Petter's big-footed mouse (Macrotarsomys petteri),[1] is a Madagascan rodent in the genus Macrotarsomys. With a head and body length of 150 mm (5.9 in) and body mass of 105 g (3.7 oz), it is the largest species of its genus. Its upper body is brown, darkest in the middle of the back, and the lower body is white to yellowish. The animal has long whiskers, short forelimbs, and long hindfeet. The tail ends in a prominent tuft of long, light hairs. The skull is robust and the molars are low-crowned and cuspidate.
Petter's big-footed mouse is now found only in the Mikea Forest of southwestern Madagascar, but subfossil records indicate that it used to be more widely distributed in southern Madagascar. Climatic changes and competition with introduced species may have led to the shift in its distribution. The Mikea Forest, the only place where it is still known to occur, is threatened by human development.