Rattus bontanus Thomas 1921

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 : 1467

Rattus bontanus Thomas 1921

Rattus bontanus Thomas 1921 , Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 9, 7: 246.

Type Locality: Indonesia, SW Sulawesi, Mt Bonthain ( Gunung Lampobatang ), 2000 ft (610 m).

Vernacular Names: Southwestern Xanthurus Rat.

Synonyms: Rattus foramineus Sody 1941 .

Distribution: SW Sulawesi: 600-2500 m on the slopes of Gunung Lampobatang and adjacent coastal lowlands.

Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable as R. bontanus , Lower Risk (nt) as R. foramineus .

Discussion: Rattus xanthurus species group. Sody (1941) questionably included this species in Taeromys, Laurie and Hill (1954) and Musser (1984) treated it as a subspecies of R. xanthurus , but Musser and Holden (1991) contended that it is a distinct species most closely related to R. foramineus , which occurs in coastal lowlands of the southern end of the SW peninsula of Sulawesi and is represented only by four modern specimens ( Sody, 1941) and subfossil fragments from a few localities ( Musser, 1984; Musser and Holden, 1991). Recent morphometric analyses reveal that foramineus is a lowland population of R. bontanus , which has external and morphological traits that distinguish it from any other species in the R. xanthurus group of Sulawesi (Musser, ms). Sody described pelurus from Pulau Peleng as a subspecies of R. foramineus , but the Peleng Isl rat is a separate species ( Musser and Holden, 1991; see that account).