The Himalayan field rat (''Rattus nitidus''), sometimes known as the white-footed Indo-Chinese rat, is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

in the family Muridae. It has a wide range, being found in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

, China,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, Laos,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, with introduced populations in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(widely),

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. A common species, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Taxonomy

The Himalayan field rat was first described in 1845 by

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hima ...

, a British naturalist and ethnologist who worked in India and Nepal and gave it the name ''Mus nitidus'', but it was later transferred to the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Rattus ''Rattus'' is a genus of muroid rodents, all typically called rats. However, the term rat can also be applied to rodent species outside of this genus. Species and description The best-known ''Rattus'' species are the black rat (''R. rattus'') ...

''. Two subspecies are recognised, ''R. n. nitidus'' and ''R. n. obsoletus''. Recent molecular research has shown that the Himalayan field rat is closely related to the

brown rat The brown rat (''Rattus norvegicus''), also known as the common rat, street rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, Norwegian rat and Parisian rat, is a widespread species of common rat. One of the largest muroids, it is a brown o ...

(''Rattus norvegicus''), and morphological studies confirm this.

Description

The head-and-body length is . It has soft, brown dorsal fur, and whitish underparts, each hair having a grey base. The feet are white, the hind feet are narrower than those of ''R. norvegicus'', and the soles have ridges which provides extra grip when the animal is climbing.

Distribution and habitat

This rat is native to southeastern Asia. Its range extends from northern India, Bhutan, Nepal and probably Bangladesh, through central, southern and eastern China and southward to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It has been introduced to Palau, the Philippines and Indonesia. It generally inhabits both primary and secondary forests at altitudes up to about , but is an adaptable species and is also found in plantations, on agricultural land and around human dwellings.

Status

''R. nitidus'' is an abundant and adaptable species with a very wide range, able to live in a number of different environments. No particular threats have been identified, and the

has assessed its conservation status as being of "

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1618989 Rattus Rats of Asia Rodents of China Rodents of India Rodents of Thailand Rodents of Vietnam Mammals of Bangladesh Mammals of Bhutan Mammals of Laos Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Nepal Mammals described in 1845 Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson Taxonomy articles created by Polbot