Rattus ranjiniae Agrawal and Ghosal, 1969

Guy G. Musser & Michael D. Carleton, 1993, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 501-755 : 658

Rattus ranjiniae Agrawal and Ghosal, 1969 . Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, 22:41.

TYPE LOCALITY: SW Indian Peninsula, India, Kerala State, Trivandrum .

DISTRIBUTION: Known only from the type locality and Trichur, also in Kerala.

COMMENTS: Represented by the four specimens taken at the type locality and two others collected at Trichur. Most information about the species is meager and contained in the original description. Our study of two paratypes kindly loaned to us by Dr. S. Chakraborty revealed that R. ranjiniae is characterized by large claws relative to body size, very long and slender hind feet, large body size, long molar rows, small bullae, narrow incisive foramina, and a short bony palate that does not extend past the third molars. These traits combine in a morphology that is uniquely distinct compared with all other species now placed in Rattus . Phylogenetic relationships of ranjiniae are unknown; possibly this species should be removed from Rattus .