Species Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769)
Brown Rat
- Mus norvegicus Berkenhout, J. 1769. Outlines of the Natural History of Great Britain and Ireland. Containing a systematic arrangement and concise description of all the animals, vegetables, and fossils which have hitherto been discovered in these kingdoms. Comprehending the Animal Kingdom. London : P. Elmsly 1 xiii 233 pp. [5].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, Great Britain and Ireland; type locality identified by Hinton (1916: 606), as 'Britain'; by Miller & Kellogg (1955: 620), as 'England'.Type locality references:
Miller, G.S. & Kellogg, R. 1955. List of North American Recent Mammals. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 205: i-xii 1-954; Hinton, M.A.C. (as Barrett-Hamilton, G.E.H. & Hinton, M.A.C.) 1916. A History of British Mammals. London : Gurney & Jackson Vol. 19 601-648 pp. 33-34 pls. - Mus decumanus Pallas, P.S. 1779. Novae Species Quadrupedum e Glirium Ordine cum illustrationibus variis complurium ex hoc ordine animalium. Fasc. 2. Erlangae : Wolfgangi Waltheri 71-388 pls 5-27. [publication date established from Sherborn, C.D. 1891. Dates of the Parts of P.S. Pallas's 'Icones Insect. p. Ross. Sibir.' and 'Nov. spec. Quadr, Glirium.'. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 7: 236] [91].
Type data:
Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, the region extending NW from India to maritime Europe; Hinton (1916: 606) identified the type locality as 'Europe'.Type locality references:
Hinton, M.A.C. (as Barrett-Hamilton, G.E.H. & Hinton, M.A.C.) 1916. A History of British Mammals. London : Gurney & Jackson Vol. 19 601-648 pp. 33-34 pls. - Mus tamarensis Higgins, E.T. & Petterd, W.F. 1884. New species of Tasmanian Antechini and Mus. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1883: 184-186 [publication date established from Anon. 1953. Annual Report, 1952. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 87: ii–viii [vi]] [185].
Type data:
Holotype whereabouts unknown ♀ (not preserved, see Lord, C.E. 1918. Notes on the mammals of Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1918: 16–52 [25–26] and Lord, C.E. & Scott, H.H. 1924. A Synopsis of the Vertebrate Animals of Tasmania. Hobart : Oldham, Beddome & Meredith 340 pp. 41 pls [300]), ?Tamer River, TAS (as streams of Northern Tasmania).
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Mahoney, J.A. in Walton, D.W. (ed.) 1988. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service x 274 pp. [Date published 13/Apr/1988] [185]
Distribution
Extra Distribution Information
Cosmopolitan.
Introduced from Europe.
IBRA
NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Ben Lomond (BEL), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Flinders (FLI), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), King (KIN), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), NSW North Coast (NNC), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tasmanian Central Highlands (TCH), Tasmanian Northern Midlands (TNM), Tasmanian Northern Slopes (TNS), Tasmanian South East (TSE), Tasmanian Southern Ranges (TSR), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR)
Ecological Descriptors
Burrowing, crepuscular, gregarious, necrophagous, omnivore, peridomestic, predator, subtropical, terrestrial, territorial.
Extra Ecological Information
Underestimated climber and swimmer.
General References
Aplin, K.P., Brown, P.R., Jacob, J., Krebs, C.J. & Singleton, G.R. 2004. Field Methods for Rodent Studies in Asia and the Pacific. ACIAR Monograph No. 100. Canberra : Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
Barnett, S.A. 1976. The Rat: a Study in Behavior. Revised Edition. Canberra : Australian National University Press xiv 318 pp.
Baverstock, P.R., Watts, C.H.S., Adams, M. & Cole, S.R. 1981. Genetical relationships among Australian rodents (Muridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 29: 289-303
Calhoun, J.B. 1963. The Ecology and Sociology of the Norway Rat. Public Health Service Publication No. 1008. Bethesda : U.S. Dept. Health, Education & Welfare viii 288 pp.
Gemmeke, von H. & Niethammer, J. 1984. Zur Taxonomie der Gattung Rattus (Rodentia, Muridae). Zeitschrift fur Säugetierkunde 49: 104-116
Pasteur, N., Worms, J., Tohari, M. & Iskandar, D. 1982. Genetic differentiation in Indonesian and French rats of the subgenus Rattus. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 10: 191-196
Perry, J.S. 1945. The reproduction of the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus Erxleben). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 115: 19-46
Storer, T.I. (ed.) 1962. Pacific Island Rat Ecology Report of a study made on Ponape and adjacent islands 1955–1958. Bulletin of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum 225: 1-274
Watts, C.H.S. 1995. Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus. pp. 658-659 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Watts, C.H.S. 1995. Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus. pp. 658-659 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Watts, C.H.S. & Aslin, H.J. 1981. The Rodents of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xii 321 pp. 16 pls
Common Name References
ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Brown Rat)