Tawi-tawi forest rat

Rattus tawitawiensis is a rat and belongs to the subfamily of Altweltmäuse ( Murinae ). Their habitats are located on Tawi Tawi, an island that belongs to the Sulu archipelago in the extreme southwest of the Philippines. To date, only three animals were caught.

R. tawitawiensis is a large rat with a dark brown coat and a short tail. She has relatively large teeth and eight mammary glands.

From the explorers has been suggested that this rat has a strong similarity with other species on Southeast Asian islands, namely Rattus stoicus of the Andaman Islands, Rattus palmarum and Rattus Burrus of the Nicobar Islands, Rattus simalurensis of the Simalur Islands, Rattus lugens of the Mentawai Islands, Rattus Rattus and adustus on Enggano hoffmanni on Sulawesi. Later, the affinity of Rattus hoffmanni with these types was doubted by the discoverers.