Rattus Fischer 1803

• Main Authors: Guy G. Musser, Michael D. Carleton
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Smithsonian Institution Press 1993
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Rodentia; Muridae; Rattus; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7284890; http://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D087AEFF62FF2EFF2308E4FA2AFCEF

Rattus Fischer, 1803. Natl. Mus. Nat. Paris, 2:128. TYPE SPECIES: Mus decumanus Pallas, 1778 (see Hollister, 1916b; = Mus norvégiens Berkenhout, 1769). SYNONYMS: Acanthomys (Gray, 1867, not Lesson, 1842, or Tokuda, 1941), Christomys, Cironomys, Epimys, Geromys, Mollicomys; Octomys (Sody, 1941, not Thomas, 1922), Pullomys, Togomys. COMMENTS: Rattus Frisch, 1775, is unavailable. Sody (1941) proposed the genera Christomys, Cironomys, Geromys, Mollicomys, Octomys, and Pullomys for various species we list in Rattus; all are nomina nuda. Togomys is based on R. exulans (Dieterlen, in Ansell, 1989a). Taxonomic changes altering the definition of Rattus as understood by Tate (1936), Ellerman (1941, 1949«, 1961), and Simpson (1945), were described and summarized by Misonne (1969), Musser (1981b), Musser and Newcomb (1983), Musser and Holden (1991), and Musser and Heaney (1992). Species we list here can be sorted into the following groups. 1. The norvegicus group. Rattus norvegicus, the type species of the genus, is divergent from Rattus rattus in morphology as well as electrophoretic and immunological traits (Chan, 1977; Chan et al., 1979; Baverstock et al., 1983«, c, 1986; Watts, in litt.) 2. The rattus group (adustus, argentiventer, baluensis, burrus, everetti, hoffmanni, koopmani, losea, lugens, mindorensis, mollicomulus, nitidus, osgoodi, palmarum, rattus, tanezumi, sikkimensis, simalurensis, tawitawiensis, tiomanicus, and turkestanicus). Morphology of these species generally reflects the conception of what is usually called subgenus Rattus (Musser and Holden, 1991). Whether or not this cluster, along with the norvegicus group, will eventually form the only contents of Rattus is a speculation that has to be assessed by systematic revision of the genus (Musser and Heaney, 1985, 1992; Musser and Holden, 1991). Comparative chromosomal data for many of these species were summarized by Musser and Holden (1991). Schwarz and Schwarz (1967) offered a most peculiar and idiosyncratic revision of the group. 3. Native Australian ...