Rattus rattus

• 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; Indian; Morrison; Twigg
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/7285054; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7285054

Rattus rattus (Linnaeus, 1758). Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1:61. TYPE LOCALITY: Sweden, Uppsala County, Uppsala. DISTRIBUTION: Native to Indian Peninsula, and introduced worldwide in the tropics and temperate zone (Becker, 1978a; de Roguin, 1991; Dieterlen, 1979; Duplantier et al., 19916; Johnson, 1962a, b; Niethammer, 1975; Taylor and Horner, 1973; Taylor et al., 1982; Twigg, 1992; Yosida, 1980; Yosida et al., 1985). SYNONYMS: aethiops, albiventer, albus, alexandrino-rattus, alexandrinus, arboreus, arboricola, asiaticus, ater, atratus, atridorsum, auratus, beccarii, brookei, brunneusculus, caeruleus, ceylonus, chionogaster, coquimbensis, crassipes, cyaneus, doboensis, domesticus, doriae, erythronotus, flavescens, flaviventris, frugivorus, fuliginosus, fulvaster, fuscus, gangutrianus, girensis, griseocaeruleus, indicus (Desmarest, 1822, not Bechstein, 1800), infralineatus (nomen nudum), intermedius, jujensis, jurassicus, kandianus, kandiyanus, kelaarti, kijabius, latipes, leucogaster, muansae, narbadae, nemoralis, nericola, osorninus, picteti, rattiformis, rattoides, rufescens, ruthenus, saltuum, samharensis, satarae, siculae, subcaeruleus, subrufus, sueirensis, sylvestris, tectorum, tetragonurus, tettensis, tompsoni, variabilis, varius (see Allen, 1939; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951; Mahoney and Richardson, 1988; Osgood, 1943; Schütter and Thonglongya, 1971; Taylor et al., 1982). COMMENTS: Numerous cytogenetic studies focusing on the R. rattus complex, summarized by Baverstock et al. (1983c), Bekasova and Mezhova (1983), Niethammer (1975), and Yosida (1980), have revealed the complex to consist of two basic groups of populations. The Oceanian or European type has 2N=38 (40 in some), the Asian type is characterized by 2N=42; the two are also distinguished by biochemical features (Baverstock et al., 1983c) as well as morphological traits (Schwabe, 1979). Where the Asian type is indigenous, the Oceanian form is restricted to ports or on ships in harbor. Both chromosomal kinds apparently occur together without ...