Rattus lugens Miller 1903

Rattus lugens Miller 1903, Smithson. Misc. Coll., 45: 33.

Type Locality: Indonesia, Kepulauan Mentawai, Pulau Utara Pagai (North Pagai Isl).

Vernacular Names: Mentawai Archipelago Rat.

Synonyms: Rattus mentawai Chasen and Kloss 1928 .

Distribution: Islands of Siberut, Sipora, Pagai Utara, and Pagai Selattan in the Mentawai Arch. off coast of SW Sumatra; these islands lie on a slender extension of the continental shelf.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Rattus rattus species group. Chasen (1940) listed lugens and mentawai each as a subspecies of R. rattus, but the Mentawai endemic is a morphologically distinctive species most closely related to R. adustus from Enggano Isl and R. simalurensis from the adjacent Simalur Arch., and both those two species along with R. lugens appear to be morphologically related to the R. tiomanicus complex (Musser, 1986; Musser and Califia, 1982; Musser and Heaney, 1985; Musser, ms.). Member of the murine fauna endemic to Mentawai Arch. (see account of Leopoldamys siporanus).