Rattus leucopus Gray 1867

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1472

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.7316535

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11335498

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/80B561A2-7E52-80B7-BB55-0D6422A9F34B

treatment provided by

Guido

scientific name

Rattus leucopus Gray 1867
status

 

Rattus leucopus Gray 1867 View in CoL

Rattus leucopus Gray 1867 View in CoL , Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1867: 598.

Type Locality: Australia, Queensland, Cape York (as restricted by Thomas’ lectotype selection; see Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:183).

Vernacular Names: Cape York Rat.

Synonyms: Rattus cooktownensis Tate 1951 ; Rattus dobodurae Troughton 1946 ; Rattus mcilwraithi Tate 1951 ; Rattus personata (Krefft 1867) ; Rattus ratticolor (Jentink 1908) ; Rattus ringens (Peters and Doria 1881) ; Rattus terra-reginae (Alston 1879) .

Distribution: Australia, Queensland: one population ranges from the tip of Cape York south down E side of the peninsula to vicinity of Coen, another from region of Cooktown south along the coast to Tully; all records are east of the Great Dividing Range ( Moore and Leung, 1995; Taylor and Horner, 1973; Watts and Aslin, 1981). New Guinea: widespread in lowlands south of Central Cordillera, in N and S lowland regions fringing the Owen Stanley Range in E Papua New Guinea (Flannery, 1995 a; Taylor et al., 1982:232); also Wokam Isl in the Aru Isls (Flannery, 1995 b). Altitudinal range, sea level to 1200 m (Flannery, 1995 a).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Rattus leucopus species group. This species and R. sordidus are the only two native Rattus occurring on both New Guinea and the NE coastal region of Australia ( Taylor et al., 1982). Morphologically related to other species of Rattus native to New Guinea ( Taylor et al., 1982). Morphological data interpreted by Taylor and Horner (1973) to indicate close affiliation between R. leucopus and R. fuscipes from coastal Queensland; allozymic data discordant with this view ( Baverstock et al., 1983 a, 1986). Australian segment reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981), Mahoney and Richardson (1988), and Moore and Leung (1995); New Guinea segment reviewed by Flannery (1995 a). Leung (1999 b) provided the first detailed ecological study of R. leucopus in Australia. Leary and Seri (1997) discussed specimens taken in the Kikori River Basin of S Papua.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Rattus

Loc

Rattus leucopus Gray 1867

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn 2005
2005
Loc

Rattus leucopus

Gray 1867: 598
1867
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