Bullimus Mearns 1905

Bullimus Mearns 1905, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus ., 28: 450.

Type Species: Bullimus bagobus Mearns 1905

Species and subspecies: 3 species:

Species Bullimus bagobus Mearns 1905

Species Bullimus gamay Rickart, Heaney, and Tabaranza, Jr. 2002

Species Bullimus luzonicus (Thomas 1895)

Discussion: Rattus Division. Although described as a distinctive genus by Mearns, Bullimus has been treated as a subgenus of Rattus in most taxonomic works (e.g., Ellerman, 1941; Misonne, 1969; Simpson, 1945). Generically reinstated by Musser (1982 c) and Musser and Newcomb (1983) and rediagnosed by Musser and Heaney (1992), who also documented taxonomic history and past associations with other murine genera. Bullimus belongs to the group of Philippine New Endemics (Musser and Heaney, 1992), and phylogenetic analyses of complete mtDNA cytochrome b sequences for 13 of the 16 genera of endemic Philippine murines placed it in a clade with Rattus everetti, Limnomys, and Tarsomys (Jansa and Heaney, 2001), which are also New Endemics. The association of Bullimus with genera in a Rattus Division is also supported by albumin immunology (Watts and Baverstock, 1994 b) and chromosomal data (Rickart and Heaney, 2002; Rickart and Musser, 1993). Revised by Rickart et al. (2002).