HOME --> CLASS MAMMALIA
--> ORDER RODENTIA
--> SUBORDER MYOMORPHA
--> SUPERFAMILY Muroidea
--> FAMILY Muridae
--> SUBFAMILY Murinae
--> GENUS Rattus
SPECIES Rattus ranjiniae
Author: | Agrawal and Ghosal, 1969. | Citation: | Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, 22: 41. | Common Name: | Ranjini’s Rat | Type Locality: | SW Indian Peninsula, India, Kerala State, Trivandrum. | Distribution: | Recorded only by specimens collected in rice fields from the districts of Trichur, Alleppy, and Trivandrum in the state of Kerala. | Status: | IUCN – Vulnerable. | Comments: | Rattusspecies group unresolved. Still represented by few specimens. Information about the species is meager and contained in the original description and the review by Agrawal (2000). Study of two paratypes kindly loaned to Musser by Dr. S. Chakraborty revealed that R. ranjiniae is characterized by large claws relative to body size, very long and slender hind feet, large body size, long molar rows, small bullae, narrow incisive foramina, and a short bony plate that does not extend past the third molars. These traits combine in a morphology that is unique compared with all other species now placed in Rattus (a conclusion also endorsed by Corbet and Hill, 1992). Phylogenetic relationships of R. ranjiniae are unknown; this species probably should be removed from Rattus. |
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