Indochinese Arboreal Niviventer

discussion

Discussion: Morphological limits and comparisons with N. cremoriventer, which is similar in some external and cranial traits, were reported by Musser (1973 c, 1981 b); also reviewed by Corbet and Hill (1992). Dao and Cao (1990) described quangninhensis as a subspecies of Rattus cremoriventer (= N. cremoriventer). Niviventer cremoriventer occurs in Indochina only south of the Isthmus of Kra (see that account), but N. langbianis is still referred to as either Rattus cremoriventer or Niviventer cremoriventer in most of the current Vietnamese (Dang et al., 1994) and Chinese (Zhang et al., 1997) literature. One out of the several distinct traits characterizing N. langbianis is its monocolored brown tail, which is the feature used by most researchers to separate the species from specimens of N. fulvescens, but the tail ranges from bicolored to monocolored brown in N. fulvescens and those with brown tails are often misidentified as N. langbianis. Even examples of Indochinese Rattus, which generally have unpatterned monocolored brown tails, have been identified as N. langbianis (Musser’s observations from study of museum collections). Throughout its range, N. langbianis is found with N. fu

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

distribution

Distribution: Tropical evergreen rainforest formations in Indochina north of the Isthmus of Kra: recorded from NE India (Aranachal Pradesch; USNM 564482; Musser, 1973 c), Burma (Musser, 1973 c), Thailand north of Isthmus of Kra (J. T. Marshall, Jr., 1977 a), Cardamom Mtns of SW Cambodia (A. Smith, in litt., 2002), Laos (Musser, 1973 c), and Vietnam (Dang et al., 1994; Lunde et al., 2003 b; specimens in AMNH and IEBR). See maps in Musser (1973 c) and Corbet and Hill (1992). Sketch of range derived from Musser (1973 c) and Musser’s study of recently collected material in AMNH and IEBR; see also Lunde et al., 2003 b).

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

materials_examined

Type Locality: S Vietnam, Lâm Dðng Province, Langbian Mtns (= Lam Vien Plateau) Langbian Peak, 1800 - 2300 m.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae

discussion

COMMENTS: Morphological limits and comparisons with N. cremoriventer, its closest relative, were reported by Musser (1973 c, 1981 b). Dao and Cao (1990) described quangninhensis as a subspecies of Rattus cremoriventer.

Order Rodentia - Family Muridae