The morphology, distribution and conservation implications of introduced rats, Rattus spp. in the granitic Seychelles
Abstract There are no native land mammals in the Seychelles archipelago other than bats. Introduced rats have reduced the conservation value of most islands. This paper compares the results of rat‐trapping carried out on eight islands in the granitic Seychelles, between July 1999 and April 2000. Tra...
| Published in: | African Journal of Ecology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2028.2003.00432.x https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1046%2Fj.1365-2028.2003.00432.x https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1046/j.1365-2028.2003.00432.x |
| Summary: | Abstract There are no native land mammals in the Seychelles archipelago other than bats. Introduced rats have reduced the conservation value of most islands. This paper compares the results of rat‐trapping carried out on eight islands in the granitic Seychelles, between July 1999 and April 2000. Trapping was carried out in both the dry and wet seasons. Three introduced rodent species were caught, including two species of rat (ship rat Rattus rattus Linnaeus and Norway rat R. norvegicus Berkenhout), but only one Rattus species occurred on each island. Both rat species were smaller than European or Asian conspecifics, and there were variations in the size and appearance of rats on different islands. Inter‐island differences in size and pelage colour are discussed. |
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