Rattini
Temporal range: Early Pliocene - Recent
Australian swamp rat (Rattus lutreolus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Tribe: Rattini
Burnett, 1830
Genera

See text

Rattini is a very large, diverse tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. They are found throughout Asia and Australasia, with a few species ranging into Europe and northern Africa. The most well-known members of this group are the true rats (genus Rattus), several species of which have been introduced worldwide.

Taxonomy

They are thought to be the second-most basal member of the Murinae despite their high modern diversity, with only the Phloeomyini being more basal than them.[1][2]

The genus Micromys was previously classified in a polyphyletic division also containing Hapalomys, Chiropodomys, and Vandeleuria, but phylogenetic evidence supports it forming a sister group to the rest of the Rattini. It has been debated over whether it represents its own tribe (Micromyini) or a basal member of the Rattini, but the American Society of Mammalogists classifies it within the Rattini based on a 2019 study.[1][2][3]

Distribution

They are mostly found throughout Asia, primarily in the tropics and subtropics, but with a few genera such as Rattus, Micromys (if considered a part of Rattini) and Nesokia ranging north to temperate regions or west to arid regions. In addition, many species in the genus Rattus are found throughout New Guinea and Australia, making them the only native rodents to the region outside of the Hydromyini. Only one species (Micromys minutus, if included) ranges throughout Europe, and another (Nesokia indica) ranges into northern Egypt.[4] Several Rattus species have also been introduced worldwide, and in some cases have become invasive species that have led to the extinction of many animals and plants.[5]

Within Asia, the Rattini reach their highest diversity in the tropics of Southeast Asia, especially in the Philippines and the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

Species

Species in the tribe include:[1][3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pagès, Marie; Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Chaval, Yannick; Mortelliti, Alessio; Nicolas, Violaine; Wells, Konstans; Michaux, Johan R.; Lazzari, Vincent (2016). "Molecular phylogeny of South-East Asian arboreal murine rodents". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (4): 349–364. doi:10.1111/zsc.12161. ISSN 1463-6409. S2CID 86285898.
  2. 1 2 Rowe, Kevin C.; Reno, Michael L.; Richmond, Daniel M.; Adkins, Ronald M.; Steppan, Scott J. (April 2008). "Pliocene colonization and adaptive radiations in Australia and New Guinea (Sahul): Multilocus systematics of the old endemic rodents (Muroidea: Murinae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 47 (1): 84–101. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.001. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 18313945.
  3. 1 2 Rowe, Kevin C.; Achmadi, Anang S.; Fabre, Pierre-Henri; Schenk, John J.; Steppan, Scott J.; Esselstyn, Jacob A. (2019). "Oceanic islands of Wallacea as a source for dispersal and diversification of murine rodents". Journal of Biogeography. 46 (12): 2752–2768. doi:10.1111/jbi.13720. ISSN 1365-2699. S2CID 208583483.
  4. 1 2 Database, Mammal Diversity (2021-11-06), Mammal Diversity Database, doi:10.5281/zenodo.5651212, retrieved 2021-12-11
  5. ↑ Harper, Grant A.; Bunbury, Nancy (2015-01-01). "Invasive rats on tropical islands: Their population biology and impacts on native species". Global Ecology and Conservation. 3: 607–627. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2015.02.010. ISSN 2351-9894.
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