Rattus browni suffectus Troughton, 1937a

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 373

Rattus browni suffectus Troughton, 1937a

Rec. Aust. Mus. 20(2): 122. (27 August 1937).

Common name. Pacific Rat.

Current name. Rattus exulans browni ( Alston, 1877) , following Taylor et al. (1982) and Musser & Carleton (2005).

Holotype. M.4156 by original designation. Male adult, skull, study skin, Mount Lamington district, collected in July 1927 by Mr C. Terrance McNamara, registered on 20 September 1927. Original register identification is “ Rattus browni ”.

Condition. Cranium complete; right dentary missing coronoid process. Study skin: bald patch on each rear flank, otherwise in good condition.

Type locality. Mount Lamington district (altitude not given), Northern Province, Papua New Guinea.

Paratypes. (10, 9 by subsequent determination). All collected and presented by C. T. McNamara from the Mount Lamington district . Eight specimens collected in June–July 1927 and registered in September 1927: M.4134, male, body in alc.; M.4140, female, body in alc. (not yet located in collection, possibly juv.); M.4152, female, body in alc.; M.4153 by original designation, female (allotype), skull, study skin, same data as holotype, collected July 1927; M.4154, female, study skin and part skull; M.4155, male, skull, study skin; M.4157, female, body in alc.; M.4158, male, body in alc. Two specimens registered in April, 1928, other data as holotype: M.4298, male, body in alc.; M.4299, male, skull, study skin .

Comments. Troughton cites registration numbers of the holotype and allotype, and refers to the “series of paratypes in the Australian Museum, collected and presented by Mr C. T. McNamara during 1929, when Government Resident in the Mount Lamington district.” However, the majority of specimens, including the holotype and allotype were collected and presented by McNamara in 1927, not 1929. The paratype series is assumed to be some or all of the 10 specimens from the type locality that were registered from 1927–1929 as “ Rattus browni ” or “possibly allied to Rattus browni ” and currently listed as R. exulans in the database. Troughton never amended the species or type status of specimens of this taxon after publication of his description, either in the register or type specimen card index, including, uncharacteristically, that of the holotype and allotype. The series collected by McNamara from Mt Lamington includes at least six known or suspected juvenile rats of uncertain taxonomic identity: M.4136, M.4137–38; M.4141, M.4688, M.4170, but not all have yet been located in the collection. A handwritten label by Troughton for M.4141 and M.4170 gives the identification as “ Rattus sp. , too immature for identification”. Juveniles have been excluded as paratypes on the grounds of doubts expressed by the author regarding identification (Code, Article 72.4.1). It is possible that the paratype series of nine specimens listed above might increase following completion of a detailed inventory of alcohol Rattus in the AM Collection .