Rattus tawitawiensis Musser and Heaney 1985

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1491

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.7316535
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/BC66AD16-2695-6878-19C2-BE2FE7966D95
treatment provided by	Guido
scientific name	Rattus tawitawiensis Musser and Heaney 1985
status

Treatment

Rattus tawitawiensis Musser and Heaney 1985 , Am. Mus . Novit., 2818: 5.

Type Locality: Philippines, Sulu Arch., Tawitawi Isl, Batu Batu.

Vernacular Names: Tawitawi Forest Rat.

Distribution: Greater Sulu Faunal Region. Known only from Tawitawi Isl in S part of Sulu Arch.

Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable.

Discussion: Rattus rattus species group. Still recorded by only three specimens. Phylogenetic affinities unclear; in some traits resembles Sulawesian R. hoffmanni and members of the Rattus palmarum-burrus-simalurensis-lugens clusters on the Nicobar, Simalur, and Mentawai islands more closely than any described Rattus from the Indo-Australian region (Musser and Heaney, 1985).