Order Rodentia - Family Muridae
Author
Wilson, Don E.
Author
Reeder, DeeAnn
text
2005
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2
1189
1531
book chapter
0-8018-8221-4
10.5281/zenodo.7316535
Niviventer rapit
(Bonhote 1903)
[Niviventer] rapit
(Bonhote 1903)
,
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 7, 11: 123
.
Type Locality:
Malaysia
,
Sabah
(N Borneo),
Gunung Kinabalu.
Vernacular Names:
Montane Bornean Niviventer
.
Distribution:
Highlands
of Borneo (specimens in
BMNH
,
MZB
,
RMBR
UMMZ
, and
USNM
); found between 940 and
3360 m
on the slopes of Mt Kinabalu in
Sabah
(
Md Nor, 2001
), and probably occurs throughout Borneo in mountain forests. In 1998, a large sample was collected by A. J. Gorog on
Bukit Baka
in
Bukit Raya
National Park in SW
Kalimantan
(specimens in
UMMZ
and
MZB
).
Conservation:
IUCN
– Lower Risk (lc).
Discussion:
Reviewed and contrasted with other species of
Niviventer
by
Musser (1981
b
)
, who arranged
cameroni
from the Malay Peninsula and
fraternus
from
Sumatra
as subspecies.
Musser and Carleton (1993)
noted that the "hypothesis that only one species is involved in such a disjunct insular distribution requires evaluation in context of systematic revision of
Niviventer
." Recent unpublished multivariate analyses of morphometric variation among samples of all species of
Niviventer
indicates that the three taxa are morphologically highly distinctive and that each should be treated as a separate species (Musser and Lunde, ms). In those analyses,
N. rapit
is isolated among species of
Niviventer
, does not cluster with either
N. cameroni
or
N. fraternus
, and differs from the latter two by its long and tufted tail, short molar rows, small bullae, and short and wide incisive foramina, among other traits. Member of the suite of murine species endemic to Borneo (Musser, 1986; see also account of
Chiropodomys major
).