Bandicota bengalensis (Gray 1835)

[Bandicota] bengalensis (Gray 1835), (in: 1830-1835). Illustr. Indian Zool.: pl. 21 (see Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1955).

Type Locality: India, Bengal .

Vernacular Names: Lesser Bandicoot Rat.

Synonyms: Bandicota barclayanus (Anderson 1878); Bandicota blythianus (Anderson 1878); Bandicota daccaensis (Tytler 1854); Bandicota dubius (Kelaart 1850); Bandicota gracilis (Nehring 1902); Bandicota insularis Phillips 1936; Bandicota kok (Gray 1837); Bandicota lordi (Wroughton 1908); Bandicota morungensis (Hodgson in Horsfield 1855); Bandicota plurimammis (Hodgson in Horsfield 1855); Bandicota providens (Elliot 1839); Bandicota sindicus (Wroughton 1908); Bandicota sundavensis (Kloss 1921); Bandicota tarayensis (Hodgson in Horsfield 1855); Bandicota varillus (Thomas 1907); Bandicota varius (Thomas 1907); Bandicota wardi (Wroughton 1908) .

Distribution: Probable natural range extends from N and SE Pakistan (the Punjab and Sind, respectively; Roberts, 1997) through most of India (Agrawal, 2000), Sri Lanka, S lowlands of Nepal, and Bangladesh east to Burma. Introduced to Penang Isl off the W coast of Malay Peninsula (Chasen, 1936), the Aceh region of N Sumatra and E Java (Kloss, 1921; Musser and Newcomb, 1983), and Saudi Arabia (Kock et al., 1990). Corbet and Hill (1992) noted a report of B. bengalensis from Patta Isl, Kenya, but did not know if the population was established. Indomalayan distribution mapped by Musser and Brothers (1994:7).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: The most morphologically divergent of the species now placed in Bandicota; so impressive are the differences with the other species that B. bengalensis has been placed in its own genus, Gunomys (see Wroughton, 1908 a). Morphological contrasts with B. indica and B. savilei documented by Musser and Brothers (1994). Geographic variation and one view of subspecies presented by Agrawal and Chakraborty (1976). Chromosomal data reported by Sharma and Raman (1971, 1973), Gadi and Sharma (1983), and Dubey and Raman (1992). Lekagul and Felten (1989) recognized varius as a distinct species in Thailand, but that record was based on specimens of B. savilei (Musser and Brothers, 1994) . Whether some of the many names associated with B. bengalensis identify diagnosable geographic entities is unresolved because no "careful systematic study of morphological and geographic variation among all the samples now identified as B. bengalensis is available" (Musser and Brothers, 1994:6). Prakash et al. (1995 a, b) recorded specimens and habitat in Abu Hill, Aravalli Ranges in Rajasthan, India, and Chakraborty and Agrawal (2000) documented habitat and distribution in Gujarat State. Indian population reviewed by Agrawal (2000).