Simalur Archipelago Rat – Rattus simalurensis

Rattus simalurensisMiller, 1903

Accepterad namn, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Rattus rattus species group. The form simalurensis and its two synonyms were each listed as a separate subspecies of R. rattus by Chasen (1940), but simalurensis is distinct from R. rattus and in morphology represents larger-bodied island variants of R. tiomanicus (Musser, 1986; Musser and Califia, 1982; Musser and Heaney, 1985); simalurensis, babi, and lasiae were included in R. tiomanicus by Corbet and Hill (1992). Whether populations on the Simalur islands are distinct species or insular representatives of R. tiomanicus that occur off the margin of the continental shelf will have to be determined by systematic revision of the R. tiomanicus complex. Recent morphometric analyses indicate R. simalurensis to be more closely tied to R. burrus (Nicobar Isls), R. lugens (Mentawai Arch.), and R. adustus (Pulau Enggano) than to R. tioman... [truncated]

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.