Rattus Fischer 1803
Creators: name: Musser, Guy G.
name: Carleton, Michael D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1993
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Muridae
Rattus

description: <i>Rattus</i> Fischer, 1803. Natl. Mus. Nat. Paris, 2:128. TYPE SPECIES: <i>Mus decumanus</i> Pallas, 1778 (see Hollister, 1916b; = Mus <i>norvégiens</i> Berkenhout, 1769). SYNONYMS: <i>Acanthomys</i> (Gray, 1867, not Lesson, 1842, or Tokuda, 1941), <i>Christomys, Cironomys, Epimys, Geromys, Mollicomys; Octomys</i> (Sody, 1941, not Thomas, 1922), <i>Pullomys, Togomys.</i> COMMENTS: <i>Rattus</i> Frisch, 1775, is unavailable. Sody (1941) proposed the genera <i>Christomys, Cironomys, Geromys, Mollicomys, Octomys,</i> and <i>Pullomys</i> <i>for</i> various species we list in <i>Rattus;</i> all are <i>nomina nuda. Togomys</i> is based on <i>R. exulans</i> (Dieterlen, in Ansell, 1989a). Taxonomic changes altering the definition of <i>Rattus</i> as understood by Tate (1936), Ellerman (1941, 1949«, 1961), and Simpson (1945), were described and summarized by Misonne (1969), Musser (1981b), Musser and Newcomb (1983), Musser and Holden (1991), and Musser and Heaney (1992). Species we list here can be sorted into the following groups. 1. The <i>norvegicus</i> group. <i>Rattus norvegicus,</i> the type species of the genus, is divergent from <i>Rattus rattus</i> in morphology as well as electrophoretic and immunological traits (Chan, 1977; Chan et al., 1979; Baverstock et al., 1983«, <i>c,</i> 1986; Watts, in litt.) 2. The <i>rattus</i> group <i>(adustus, argentiventer, baluensis, burrus, everetti, hoffmanni, koopmani, losea, lugens, mindorensis, mollicomulus, nitidus, osgoodi, palmarum, rattus, tanezumi, sikkimensis, simalurensis, tawitawiensis, tiomanicus,</i> and <i>turkestanicus).</i> Morphology of these species generally reflects the conception of what is usually called subgenus <i>Rattus</i> (Musser and Holden, 1991). Whether or not this cluster, along with the <i>norvegicus</i> group, will eventually form the only contents of <i>Rattus</i> is a speculation that has to be assessed by systematic revision of the genus (Musser and Heaney, 1985, 1992; Musser and Holden, 1991). Comparative chromosomal data for many of these species were summarized by Musser and Holden (1991). Schwarz and Schwarz (1967) offered a most peculiar and idiosyncratic revision of the group. 3. Native Australian species <i>(colletti, fuscipes, lutreolus, sordidus, tunneyi,</i> and <i>villosissimus),</i> which were revised by Taylor and Horner (1973) and are reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981); one <i>{sordidus)</i> also occurs in New Guinea. Results from biochemical and chromosomal studies indicated the species form a monophyletic cluster to the exclusion of either <i>R. rattus</i> or <i>R. norvegicus</i> (Baverstock et al., 19774, 1983«, 1986). Baverstock et al. (1983«) proposed a hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships based on cladistic analyses of electrophoretic, immunologic, and chromosomal data, and another proposed set of relationships assessed by isozyme elecrophoresis (Baverstock et al., 1986). Mahoney and Richardson (1988) cataloged taxonomic, distributional, and biological references. This group may also include the endemics from Timor <i>{timorensis)</i> and Flores <i>(hainaldi).</i> Furthermore, such endemic Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Isis) genera as <i>Komodomys</i> are morphologically similar to some members of the Australian <i>Rattus.</i> 4. Native New Guinea species <i>{jobiensis, leucopus, mordax, novaeguineae, praetor, sanila, steini,</i> and probably <i>giluwensis),</i> which are indigenous to New Guinea and adjacent archipelagos; one <i>(leucopus)</i> also occurs in NE Australia. All have been the subject of a systematic revision by Taylor et al. (1982, 1983). Known endemics of the Moluccas <i>(elaphinus, feliceus,</i> and probably <i>morotaiensis)</i> are also related to this group. Nature of the relationship among this group and members of <i>Stenomys,</i> members of the Australian cluster, and those genera of New Endemics native to the Philippine Isis (Musser and Heaney, 1992) remains to be resolved. 5. The <i>xanthurus</i> group <i>(bontanus, foramineus, marmosurus, pelurus,</i> and <i>xanthurus),</i> which occurs on Sulawesi and adjacent Peleng Isl, and may eventually be removed from <i>Rattus</i> (Musser and Holden, 1991). Phylogenetic affinities of the remaining species listed below <i>(annandalei, enganus, exulans, hoogerwerfi, macleari, montanus, nativitatis, ranjiniae, stoicus,</i> and <i>korinchi)</i> are unresolved; some may eventually be excluded from the genus.
description: Published as part of <i>Guy G. Musser &amp; Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 501-755 in Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London :Smithsonian Institution Press</i> on pages 649-650, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7353098
description: {"references": ["Hollister, N. 1916 b. The type species of Rattus. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 29: 206 - 207.", "Tokuda, M. 1941. A revised monograph of the Japanese and Manchou-Korean Muridae. Transaction of the Biogeographical Society of Japan, 4: 1 - 155.", "Sody, H. J. V. 1941. On a collection of rats from the Indo- Malayan and Indo- Australian regions (with descriptions of 43 new genera, species and subspecies). Treubia, 18: 255 - 325.", "Ansell, W. F. H. 1989 a. African mammals, 1938 - 1988. Trendrine Press, Cornwall, 77 pp.", "Ellerman, J. R. 1941. The families and genera of living rodents. Vol. II. Family Muridae. British Museum (Natural History), London, 690 pp.", "Simpson, G. G. 1945. The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 85: 1 - 350.", "Misonne, X. 1969. African and Indo-Australian Muridae: Evolutionary trends. Annales Musee Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique, Serie IN- 8, Sciences Zoologiques, 172: 1 - 219.", "Musser, G. G. 1981 b. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 105. Notes on systematics of Indo-Malayan murid rodents, and descriptions of new genera and species from Ceylon, Sulawesi, and the Philippines. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 168: 225 - 334.", "Musser, G. G., and C. Newcomb. 1983. Malaysian murids and the giant rat of Sumatra. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 174: 327 - 598.", "Musser, G. G., and M. E. Holden. 1991. Sulawesi rodents (Muridae: Murinae): Morphological and geographical boundaries of species in the Rattus hoffmanni group and a new species from Pulau Peleng. Pp. 322 - 413, in Contributions to mammalogy in honor of Karl F. Koopman (T. A. Griffiths and D. Klingener, eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 206: 1 - 432.", "Musser, G. G., and L. R. Heaney. 1992. Philippine rodents: Definitions of Tarsomys and Limnomys plus a preliminary assessment of phylogenetic patterns among native Philippine murines (Murinae, Muridae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 211: 1 - 138.", "Chan, K. L. 1977. Enzyme polymorphism in Malayan rats of the subgenus Rattus. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, 5: 161 - 168.", "Chan, K. L., S. S. Dhaliwal, and H. S. Yong. 1979. Protein variation and systematics of three subgenera of Malayan rats (Rodentia: Muridae, genus Rattus Fischer). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 64 B: 329 - 337.", "Schwarz, E., and H. K. Schwarz. 1967. A monograph of the Rattus rattus group. Anales de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas (Mexico City), 14: 79 - 178.", "Taylor, J. M., and B. E. Horner. 1973. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 98. Systematics of native Australian Rattus (Rodentia, Muridae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 150: 1 - 130.", "Watts, C. H. S., and H. J. Aslin. 1981. The rodents of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 321 pp.", "Baverstock, P. R., M. Adams, and C. H. S. Watts. 1986. Biochemical differentiation among karyotypic forms of Australian Rattus. Genetica, 71: 11 - 22.", "Mahoney, J. A., and B. J. Richardson. 1988. Muridae. Pp. 154 - 192, in Zoological catalogue of Australia. Mammalia (J. L. Bannister, et. al.). Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 5: 1 - 274.", "Taylor, J. M., J. H. Calaby, and H. M. Van Deusen. 1982. A revision of the genus Rattus (Rodentia, Muridae) in the New Guinean region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 173: 177 - 336.", "Taylor, J. M., J. H. Calaby, and S. C. Smith. 1983. Native Rattus, land bridges, and the Australian region. Journal of Mammalogy, 64: 463 - 475."]}