Rattus rattus ...

• Main Authors: Denys, Christiane, Gabriel, Nadine W., Lalis, Aude, Jenkins, Paulina
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2024
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Muridae; Rattus; Rattus rattus; Christiane; Goodman; Paulina
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13307418; https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.13307418

Rattus rattus (Linnaeus, 1758) Today this species is present in all Madagascar habitats from 0 to 2500 m above sea level (a.s.l.) and is relatively abundant in anthropogenic places as well as in natural forests (Soarimalala and Goodman 2011). The date of arrival of R. rattus in Madagascar is poorly known but the earliest archaeological evidence dates from the ninth to eleventh century CE at the Islamic port of Mahilaka on the north-western part of the island (Rakotozafy 1996; Radimilahy 1997, 1998). Other eastern and south-eastern coastal sites date from even earlier centuries, with archaeological evidence of well-established human settlements from the seventh to tenth century CE in southern Madagascar, and the presence of Arabic trade providing a likely explanation for the early colonisation of the island by R. rattus. This is consistent with a recent investigation showing that the arrival of the earliest R. rattus on the Swahili coast of Africa and in Pemba and Zanzibar islands dated from the seventh to ... : Published as part of Denys, Christiane, Gabriel, Nadine W., Lalis, Aude & Jenkins, Paulina, 2024, Subfossil rodents and tenrecs of Children's Cave, Madagascar, pp. 796-839 in Journal of Natural History 58 (25 - 28) on pages 807-809, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2024.2370663, http://zenodo.org/record/13219769 ...