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Philippine Rattus : a new species from the Sulu Archipelago

by: Musser, Guy G

Publication date: 1985

Topics: Rattus tawitawiensis, Rodents, Mammals, Rattus tawitawiensis -- Classification, Rodents -- Philippines -- Sulu Archipelago -- Classification, Mammals -- Philippines -- Sulu Archipelago -- Classification

Publisher: New York, N.Y. : American Museum of Natural History

Collection: americanmuseumnaturalhistory; biodiversity

Contributor: American Museum of Natural History Library

Language: English

Rights: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/permissions

Rights-holder: American Museum of Natural History Library

Volume: no. 2818

32 p. : 26 cm

"A new species, Rattus tawitawiensis, is described from Tawitawi Island in the southern Sulu Islands. It is native to the island, whereas Rattus rattus mindanensis, which also occurs there, is not. The known mammalian fauna of the Sulu Archipelago has characteristics indicating that the islands have had no recent land-bridge connection to either Borneo or Mindanao; this is consistent with geological evidence. The new species has no close relative now living in either the Philippine Islands to the east or on the islands and peninsula of the Sunda Shelf to the west. In morphology, the Tawitawi rat is most similar to species of Rattus living on islands rimming the Sunda Shelf beyond the 180 m bathymetric line. These peripheral isolates appear to be most similar to Rattus tiomanicaus among the extant fauna of the Sunda Shelf"--P. [1]

Title from caption

"June 11, 1985."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-32)

Abstract: 'A new species, Rattus tawitawiensis, is described from Tawitawi Island in the southern Sulu Islands. It is native to the island, whereas Rattus rattus mindanensis, which also occurs there, is not. The known mammalian fauna of the Sulu Archipelago has characteristics indicating that the islands have had no recent land-bridge connection to either Borneo or Mindanao; this is consistent with geological evidence. The new species has no close relative now living in either the Philippine Islands to the east or on the islands and peninsula of the Sunda Shelf to the west. In morphology, the Tawitawi rat is most similar to species of Rattus living on islands rimming the Sunda Shelf beyond the 180 m bathymetric line. These peripheral isolates appear to be most similar to Rattus tiomanicaus among the extant fauna of the Sunda Shelf'--P. [1].