Australian Bush Rat

discussion

Discussion: Rattus fuscipes species group. Taylor and Horner (1973) suggested, on morphological grounds, that the Queensland population of R. fuscipes (coracius) has a common ancestry with Queensland R. leucopus, a hypothesis reasserted by Taylor et al. (1982, 1983). This relationship, however, is unsupported by either chromosomal (Dennis and Menzies, 1978) or allozymic data (Baverstock et al., 1983 a, 1986). Reviewed by Taylor and Horner (1973), Watts and Aslin (1981), Mahoney and Richardson (1988), and Lunney (1995 a). See Taylor and Calaby (1988 a, Mammalian Species, 298). The name manicatus was included in the synonymy of Rattus fuscipes by Taylor and Horner (1973), but listed as incertae sedis by Mahoney and Richardson (1988: 192).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

distribution

Distribution: Coastal, subcoastal, and offshore islands of SW Western Australia; S coast from Eyre Peninsula in South Australia (Robinson et al., 2000) to W Victoria; coastal and subcoastal Victoria from Otway Peninsula north to near Rockhampton in Queensland; coastal Queensland from Townsville to Cooktown (Lunney, 1995 a: 652; Seebeck, 1995 c: 225; Taylor and Horner, 1973: 15).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

materials_examined

Type Locality: Australia, Western Australia, Albany, " Little Grove " on Princess Royal Harbor, 4 mi (6 km) S Mt Melville (as restricted by neotype designation by Taylor and Horner, 1973; also see Mahoney and Richardson, 1988).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

discussion

COMMENTS: Taylor and Horner (1973) suggested, on morphological grounds, that the Queensland population of R. fuscipes (coracius) has a common ancestry with Queensland R. leucopus, a hypothesis reasserted by Taylor et al. (1982, 1983). This relationship, however, is not supported by either chromosomal (Dennis and Menzies, 1978) or biochemical data (Baverstock et al., 1983 a, 1986). See Taylor and Calaby (1988 a, Mammalian Species, 298).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae