Sunburned rat

Rattus adustus is a very likely extinct species of rat. It is known only from the holotype collected on April 15, 1936 of the Indonesian island of Enggano. Since 1920, no copy has been found. Their habitat has been almost completely destroyed, possibly the backlog decreased by competition with entrained house rats.

Features

The only known specimen of Rattus is adustus a very young adult, female specimen. Compared with the same old animals of the Mentawai Islands and Simalur it seems, as well as the tooth row length suggests to trade a larger type. After skin and skull features it resembles other rats of the Mentawai Islands. Rattus Rattus adustus is darker than tawitawiensis and has five pairs of mammary glands (four in Rattus tawitawiensis ). The incisive foramen is wider than in Rattus simalurensis but narrower than in Rattus tawitawiensis.

Distribution and habitat

Rattus adustus is known only from Enggano, an island west of Sumatra. Their habitat was probably restricted to forested habitats.

Taxonomy

Henri Jacob Victor Sody described Rattus adustus first as a separate species, but they later led ( Sody, 1941) as a subspecies of the black rat (Rattus rattus ) in a section that also Rattus lugens ( Syn: Rattus mentawai ), endemic to the Mentawai Islands contained. Morphologically and geographically Rattus Rattus lugens is adustus related to, are both Rattus simalurensis close. These three types are in turn closely related to Rattus tiomanicus.