Rattus tanezumi ( Temminck, 1844 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 184

Rattus tanezumi ( Temminck, 1844) — Oriental House Rat

Mus tanezumi Temminck in Siebold, Temminck, and Schlegel, 1844 p.51; Type locality- Nagasaki (restricted by Jones & Johnson, 1965), Japan.

Rattus rattus alexandrinus: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.378 ; Kuroda, 1938 p.65.

R. rattus rattus: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.378 ; Won, 1968 p.176.

Rattus norvegicus longicaudus Mori, 1937 p.42 ; Type locality- Ulleung (Dagelet) Island, Korea; Won, 1958 p.449; Won, 1968 p.176.

R. tanezumi: Kuroda, 1938 p.69 ; Musser & Carleton, 2005 p.1489; Kim et al., 2013 p.550.

R. rattus flavipectus: Ellerman, 1949 p.58 ; Jones & Johnson, 1965 p.390.

R. rattus: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.581 ; Won, 1958 p.448; Won, 1968 p.176; Yoon, 1992 p.82; Han, 1994 p.47; Won & Smith, 1999 p.28; Han, 2004c p.119; Jo et al., 2012 p.253 .

R. alexandrinus: Won, 1958 p.448 .

R. rattus rufescens: Won, 1967 p.236 .

Range: The range of R. tanezumi converges in the central and southern regions of Korea, with populations especially prominent in and near port cities including Jeju Island and Ulleung Island ( Fig. 125 ). Interactions with R. norvegicus limit the distribution of the roof rat. On Jeju Island, the range of R. tanezumi was restricted to within 1 km of the port ( Won 1967).

Remarks: The population on Ulleung Island was mistakenly identified as R. n. longicaudus but corrected as R. rattus tanezumi . Corbet (1978) regarded the Korean population as R. r. tanezumi along with China and Japan. Jones and Johnson (1965) described black rats in Korea as R. rattus flavipectus ; Won (1967) disagreed and proposed that the black rat in Korea should be R. rattus rufescens . Won (1968) disputed this subspecies with a classification of R. r. rattus instead. Corbet (1978) questioned R. rattus flavipectus stating that R. r. flavipectus was a synonym for R. rattus tanezumi . Koh (1992) confirmed R. r. tanezumi ( Temminck, 1844) as the subspecies name for roof rats in Korea. However, Carleton and Musser (2005) elevated R. r. tanezumi to Rattus tanezumi as a monotypic species but mammalogists in Korea rarely accepted R. tanezumi . Based on mtDNA analysis, Kim et al. (2013b) confirmed the correct identity of R. rattus on Jeju Island as R. tanezumi . Since apparently, R. rattus and R. tanezumi are cryptic species, and morphological identification of specimens was involved, the classification of most R. rattus in Korea must change to R. tanezumi .

Figures

FIGURE 125. Range map of Rattus tanezumi in Korea.