Rattus mindorensis (Thomas, 1898) . Trans. Zool. Soc. London, 14:402.

TYPE LOCALITY: Philippines, Mindoro Isl, Mt Dulangan, 5000 ft .

DISTRIBUTION: Highlands of Mindoro (Philippines).

SYNONYMS: picinus.

COMMENTS: Phylogenetically distant from other species of Rattus native to the Philippines (Musser and Heaney, 1992). Morphologically closely related to Rattus tiomanicus, which is native to Malay Peninsula and islands on the Sunda Shelf, and possibly only an insular variant of that species (Musser and Califia, 1982; Musser and Heaney, 1985). Musser (1977b) explained why picinus is a synonym.