The dusky rat (''Rattus colletti'') is an indigenous species of

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

in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...

found in Australia.

Name

Kunwinjku people of western

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

call this animal ''mulbbu'', a name also applied to other rodent species. It was first described in 1904 by British zoologist

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

Range

The rat is found only in the monsoonal subcoastal plains of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Predation

The dusky rat is eaten according to Peterson NganjmirraReverend Peterson Nganjmirra, personal comment in Goodfellow's, ''Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End'', 1993 and is prey to the Australian water python (''Liasis fuscus)'' also ranging across northern Australia.

References

* Rattus Mammals of the Northern Territory Rodents of Australia Mammals described in 1904 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Rattus-stub