Muennink's spiny rat; Okinawa spinous country-rat
A rare rodent species endemic to Okinawa Island. Scientific name: Tokudaia muenninki.
The Okinawa spiny rat is an endemic species found only in the northern part of Okinawa Island.
Conservation efforts for the Okinawa spiny rat are underway.
Katakana spelling is standard for this species name; usually written in kana.
Kanji spelling is rare and mainly encountered in older or formal biological texts.
The name is a compound of 沖縄 (Okinawa) + 棘 (toge, 'thorn/spine') + 鼠 (nezumi, 'rat/mouse'), describing a spiny rat native to Okinawa. The exact derivation is straightforward; the katakana form is the conventional biological name.