The dusky rat (Rattus colletti) is an indigenous species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Australia.

Dusky rat
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Rattus
Species:
R. colletti
Binomial name
Rattus colletti
(Thomas, 1904)
Synonyms[2]
  • Mus colletti Thomas, 1904

Name edit

Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land call this animal mulbbu, a name also applied to other rodent species.[3] It was first described in 1904 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas.[4]

Range edit

The rat is found only in the monsoonal subcoastal plains of the Northern Territory, Australia.

Predation edit

The dusky rat is eaten according to Peterson Nganjmirra[5][page needed] and is prey to the Australian water python (Liasis fuscus) also ranging across northern Australia.

References edit

  1. ^ Oakwood, M.; Zichy-Woinarski, J. (2016). "Rattus colletti". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T19326A22444443. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T19326A22444443.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Jackson, Stephen; Groves, Colin (2015). Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-4863-0013-6.
  3. ^ "mulbbu". Bininj Kunwok Dictionary. Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  4. ^ Thomas, O. (1904). "New species of Pteropus, Mus, and Pogonomys from the Australian region". Novitates Zoologicae. 11: 597–600.
  5. ^ Reverend Peterson Nganjmirra, personal comment in Goodfellow's, Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End, 1993 ISBN 9781862543065