Rattus villosissimus

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2017
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Muridae; Rattus; Rattus villosissimus; Queensland; Rata; Buff; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/6869017; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6869017

723. Australian Long-haired Rat Rattus villosissimus French: Rat a poil long / German: Langhaarige Australische Ratte / Spanish: Rata de pelo largo de Australia Other common names: Long-haired Rat, Plague Rat Taxonomy. Mus villosissimus Waite, 1898, “Central Australia.” Identified by J. A. Mahoney and B. J. Richardson in 1988 as “probably the vicinity of Goonhag-hooheeny Billabong, Cooper Creek,” Queensland, Australia. Rattus villosissimus is in the R. sordidus species group, which clusters with the other Australian species groups. All Australian species of Rattus are sister to a cladecontaining the New Guinea endemic species, although not all species have been sampled and more research is needed to fully resolve relationships within this clade of Rattus. Monotypic. Distribution. N &C Australia in two central core areas (Barkly Lake system of the Barkly Tableland, Northern Territory, and Channel Country in SW Queensland and NE South Australia), and Southwest I, Sir Edward Pellew Group. Descriptive notes. Head-body 130-225 mm,tail 120-180 mm, ear 16-22 mm, hindfoot 30-40 mm; weight 60-280 g. The Australian Long-haired Rat is mediumto large-sized and similar to the Canefield Rat (R. sordidus)and the Australian Dusky Rat (R. collettr), but it is lighter gray, with longer pelage. Body and organ weights vary seasonally, being heavier in wet season and lighter in dry season. Pelage is long and shaggy, with long black guard hairs. Dorsum is light buff to rufous, heavily grizzled with dark gray and extending onto base of tail. Some individuals have white flash on forehead. Venter is cream or pale gray. Top offeet are same color as dorsum, becoming lighter and browner on digits. Ears are blackish brown; vibrissae are fairly short. Tail is ¢.89% of head-body length, dark blackish brown, and covered in short hair. There are six pairs of mammae: three axillary and three inguinal. Diploid number is 2n = 50 (the largest for the genus), FN = 60. Habitat. Highly restricted to refuges in arid landscape where food and water ...