
Fig 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4
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Order : RODENTIA
Family : Muridae
Species : Sundamys annandalei
Head-Body Length : Up to 22 cm
Tail Length : Up to 26 cm Annandale's Rat, or Singapore
Rat, mainly inhabits secondary forest, including former
rubber or coconut palm plantations. It seldom occurs in intact, lowland, primary forest.
At night this rat can be seen foraging amongst fallen branches, low scrub
and low branches of saplings.
Some of its morphological features, for example the large auditory
bullae (rounded features on the skull which enclose structures of the middle
and inner ear), previously suggested it was a member of the Rattus
genus, but in 2017 it was reassigned to the Sundamys genus after DNA
sequencing was undertaken (Camacho-Sanchez et al, 2017).
Its dorsal fur is greyish-brown, and the underside is generally pale yellow
but sometimes white: the demarcation between its dorsal and ventral fur
is quite sharp. The tail is long and nearly naked, and the eye medium in
size.
Annandale's Rat has a fairly restricted range, and is found only in southern Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore
and eastern Sumatra (and some neighbouring low-lying islands to the east).
Fig 1 : Adult foraging in secondary forest,
Singapore.
Fig 2 : Adult foraging in a decaying
coconut palm in young secondary forest, Singapore.
Figs 3 and 4 : This juvenile is tentatively identified as an Annandale's Rat : it
is feeding on an earthworm amongst the leaf litter of a secondary forest,
Singapore.
References :
Camacho-Sanchez, M., Leonard, J. A., Fitriana, Y., Tilak, M-K. & Fabre, P-H.
(2017). The generic status of Rattus annandalei (Bonhote, 1903)
(Rodentia, Murinae) and its evolutionary implications. Journal of Mammalogy,
98(5), 1340-1355.
Francis, C.M., 2001. Mammals of South-east Asia. New Holland. |