Rattus macleari Thomas 1887

• 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 macleari; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11358347; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/3BB6844EC5ACD3F611C65718DC59EDAF

Rattus macleari Thomas 1887 Rattus macleari Thomas 1887, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1887: 513. Type Locality: Christmas Isl (Australia). Vernacular Names: Maclear's Christmas Island Rat. Distribution: Endemic to Christmas Isl, 320 km south of Java in the Indian Ocean; thought to be extinct by 1908 (Andrews, 1909) and now considered extirpated (Flannery, 1990 c ), with time of extinction between 1901 and 1904 (Pickering and Norris, 1996). Conservation: IUCN – Extinct. Discussion: Rattus species group unresolved. Ellerman (1941) first listed the species as the only member of " macleari " group in subgenus Rattus , then placed it and R. nativitatis in same group within subgenus Stenomys of Rattus (Ellerman, 1949 a ). Chasen (1940) thought R. macleari to be nearest Sundamys muelleri , but in their comparisons, Musser and Newcomb (1983) found no support for this alliance. Misonne (1969) included R. macleari in subgenus Rattus at the other extreme, Sody (1941) proposed genus Christomys to contain it. In the original description, Thomas (1887 c ) indicated R. macleari belonged to a group that included Taeromys celebensis , Lenomys meyeri , Rattus everetti , and R. xanthurus (he treated all as Rattus ); of these, only R. xanthurus resembles R. macleari (Musser and Newcomb, 1983). Phylogenetic relationships remain unresolved, but Musser (1986) suggested R. macleari should be compared with a group of species that includes R. annandalei , R. enganus , R. korinchi , R. montanus , R. nativitatis , and R. xanthurus , none of them members of subgenus Rattus but distantly related to it. Until the introduction of Rattus rattus in 1899 (apparently from a cargo of hay carried by the S. S. Hindustan; Pickering and Norris, 1996), R. macleari and R. nativitatis were the only rats living on Christmas Isl. The possible role of disease transferred from R. rattus to R. macleari in abetting its extinction is discussed by Pickering and Norris (1996), who also identified specimens with color patterns they interpreted to reflect hybridization ...