Rattus praetor Thomas 1888

• Main Authors: Wilson, Don E., Reeder, DeeAnn
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Johns Hopkins University Press 2005
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Muridae; Rattus; Rattus praetor; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11335534; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/855D65B24CF1A2D0EE061AB8830E8807

Rattus praetor Thomas 1888 Rattus praetor Thomas 1888, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 1, 2: 158. Type Locality: Solomon Isls, Guadalcanal Isl, Aola. Vernacular Names: Large New Guinea Spiny Rat. Synonyms: Rattus bandiculus Thomas 1922; Rattus coenorum Thomas 1922; Rattus mediocris Troughton 1936; Rattus purdiensis Troughton 1946; Rattus sansapor Troughton 1946; Rattus tramitius Thomas 1922; Rattus utakwa Ellerman 1941. Distribution: New Guinea; on the mainland north of the Central Cordillera from Vogelkop Peninsula throughout N New Guinea to about the Sepik-Ramu drainage in Papua New Guinea, and south of the Cordillera to W Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya); sea level to 1900 m; absent from the Trans-Fly region and E Papua New Guinea. Living populations also recorded from Manus Isl in Admiralty Isls; Bougainville and Guadalcanal Isls in the Solomon Isls; Karkar Isl, Blup Blup Isl, Bat Isl, New Britain Isl, and New Ireland Isl in the Bismarck Arch.; and Salawati and Gebe islands off the western tip of Prov. of Papua (= Irian Jaya); found as fossils only on Nissan and Tikopia islands in the Solomons (Emmons and Kinbag, 2001; Flannery, 1995 a , b Flannery and White, 1991; Taylor et al., 1982). Also recorded from Fiji Isl as a subfossil (K. Aplin, in litt., 2004). Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc). Discussion: Rattus leucopus species group. In Tate's (1951) monograph, this species was listed as a subspecies of R. ruber the holotype of ruber is an example of the introduced R. nitidus (Taylor et al., 1983, summarized the taxonomic history). According to Flannery (1995 b :159), R. praetor "has been introduced prehistorically into most of its insular distribution, reaching New Ireland by 3500 year ago. and the Solomon Islands soon after." Reviewed by Flannery (1995 a , b ). Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, pp. 1189-1531 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University ...