Rattus lutreolus J. E. Gray 1841

Rattus lutreolus J. E. Gray 1841, in: G. Gray, App. C in: Jour. Two Exped. Aust., Part II: 409.

Type Locality: Australia, New South Wales, Hunter River, Moscheto Isl (as restricted by Thomas’ lectotype selection; see Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:184).

Vernacular Names: Australian Swamp Rat.

Synonyms: Rattus cambricus Troughton 1937; Rattus imbil Troughton 1937; Rattus lacus Tate 1951; Rattus pachyurus (Higgins and Petterd 1884); Rattus petterdi (Trouessart 1904); Rattus tetragonurus (Higgins and Petterd 1884); Rattus vellerosus (Gray 1847); Rattus velutinus (Thomas 1882) .

Distribution: Tasmania (Rounsevell et al., 1991); coastal and subcoastal habitats from vicinity of Adelaide in SE South Australia east and north through S Victoria, New South Wales to SE Queensland, with isolated populations in N Queensland; also on Kangaroo Isl off coast of South Australia (Lunney, 1995 b:656; Robinson et al., 2000; Seebeck, 1995 d:227; Taylor and Horner, 1973:53; Watts and Aslin, 1981:231).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Rattus fuscipes species group. Watts and Aslin (1981) provided comprehensive discussion of the species. Gross and microscopic anatomy of gastrointestinal tract described by Meulman et al. (1999). Reviewed by Mahoney and Richardson (1988) and Lunney (1995 b). See Taylor and Calaby (1988 b, Mammalian Species, 299).