Nicobar Island Rat

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Nicobar Island Rat
Systematics
Family : Long-tailed mice (Muridae)
Subfamily : Old World Mice (Murinae)
Tribe : Rattini
Rattus group
Genre : Rats ( rattus )
Type : Nicobar Island Rat
Scientific name
Rattus burrus
( GS Miller , 1902)

The Nicobar Island Rat or Nicobar Rat ( Rattus burrus ) is a species of mammal from the genus of rats within rodents (Rodentia). She lives exclusively on the Nicobar Islands , a group of islands belonging to India in the Bay of Bengal .

features

The Nicobar island rat reaches a head-trunk length of 17.4 to 21.5 centimeters with a tail length of 18.3 to 21.5 centimeters. The ear length is 24 millimeters and the hind foot length 36 to 43 millimeters. This makes it a medium to large species within rats. It has a long and soft fur without fur spines. The back fur is grayish red-brown with a gray undercoat , on the sides of the body it becomes lighter and merges into the cream-white to sand-colored fur on the belly side. The feet are brown on top. The ears are bare and dark brown, the vibrissae on the face are comparatively long. The continuously dark brown tail reaches about the same length as the head-trunk length and is therefore relatively short within the genus. The females have five pairs of teats , two in the armpit and three in the lumbar region.

The skull reaches a length of 41.3 to 46.7 millimeters and is slightly smaller than that of the house rat ( Rattus rattus ). Morphologically, the species is similar to the Nicobar palm rat ( Rattus palmarum ) that lives on Car Nicobar in the north of the archipelago. This is slightly larger than the Nicobar Island rat and has a slightly larger skull and a less soft fur.

distribution

The species is endemic to the Nicobar Islands , an archipelago belonging to India in the Bay of Bengal . There it is recorded on Trinket , Groß Nikobar and Klein Nikobar .

Way of life

Very little information is available about the way of life of the Nicobar Island rat. It lives in tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest areas on the islands at altitudes up to a maximum of 100 meters. It is nocturnal and, like most rats, lives on the ground. There is no information available on nutrition and reproduction.

Systematics

The Nicobar Island rat is regarded as an independent species within the rats (genus Rattus ) and was scientifically described in 1902 by Gerrit Smith Miller under the name Mus burrus . According to morphometric analyzes, the species is most closely related to the Simalurian rat ( Rattus simalurensis ), the Mentawai rat ( Rattus lugens ) and the Indonesian smooth -haired rat ( Rattus adustus ). The Nicobar Island rat has not been represented in molecular biological analyzes, which means that the position within the genus is viewed as unclear. Occasionally it is also regarded as a subspecies or synonym of the Nicobar palm rat ( Rattus palmarum ).

No subspecies are delimited within the species.

Hazard and protection

The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as a threatened species ("endangered"). The potential distribution area is very limited with only 2841 km², the area actually used is estimated at less than 500 km². The 2004 tsunami , which flooded most of the Nicobar Islands and destroyed their habitats, also contributed to the increased endangerment of the species. Post-tidal development, the establishment and expansion of human settlements and the conversion of forests into palm plantations are also a serious threat to the species.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h C. Denys, PJ Taylor, KP Aplin et al .: Nicobar Archipelago Rat Rattus burrus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Rodents 2. (HMW, Volume 7) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2017, ISBN 978-84- 16728-04-6 , p. 831.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Rattus burrus. In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
  3. ↑ a b Rattus burrus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2019 Posted by: S. Molur, 2008. Accessed on 5 November of 2019.

literature

  • C. Denys, PJ Taylor, KP Aplin et al .: Nicobar Archipelago Rat Rattus burrus. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Rodents 2. (HMW, Volume 7) Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2017, ISBN 978-84- 16728-04-6 , p. 831.

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