Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 27, 2026

New Guinea waterside rat

The New Guinea waterside rat is the only species in the genus Parahydromys. It is considered part of the New Guinea Old Endemics, meaning its ancestors were part of the first wave of murine rodents to colonize the island. It is commonly called the "Guinea rat".

Last revised
Jun 27, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
150 w
Citations
2
Source
New Guinea waterside rat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Tribe: Hydromyini
Genus: Parahydromys
Poche, 1906
Species:
P. asper
Binomial name
Parahydromys asper
(Thomas, 1906)
Distribution map on New Guinea

The New Guinea waterside rat (Parahydromys asper) is the only species in the genus Parahydromys. It is considered part of the New Guinea Old Endemics, meaning its ancestors were part of the first wave of murine rodents to colonize the island. It is commonly called the "Guinea rat".

Names

It is known as godmg or nyabap in the Kalam language of Papua New Guinea.2

References

References

  1. Leary, T.; Singadan, R.; Menzies, J.; Helgen, K.; Wright, D.; Allison, A.; Aplin, K. (2008). "Parahydromys asper". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T16114A5390080. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T16114A5390080.en.
  2. Pawley, Andrew and Ralph Bulmer. 2011. A Dictionary of Kalam with Ethnographic Notes. Canberra. Pacific Linguistics.