3 p. ; 24 cm.Includes 1 bibliographical reference (p. [1])

Archbold Expedition to New Guinea 1938-1939)

Richardson, William B.

Tate, G. H. H. (George Henry Hamilton), 1894-1953.

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

AMERIICAN MUSEUM:NOVITATESPUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCITY OF NEW YORK JULY 29, 1949 NUMBER 1421RESULTS OF THE ARCHBOLD EXPEDITIONS.NO. 6IA NEW SPECIES OF RATTUS FROM THE SNOWMOUNTAINS OF NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEABy G. H. H. TATEThe rat described below is represented by a series of 57 speci-mens, most of which were collected by W. B. Richardson, mam-malogist of the 1938-1939 New Guinea expedition. It will be re-membered that the expedition flew in an amphibian airplane fromHollandia to Lake Habbema, 3225 meters, and besides making astudy of the remarkable agricultural Stone Age tribe of the near-byBalim Valley, climbed to the snows of Mt. Wilhelmina. Speci-mens of the new rat were obtained at various levels between 3225and 4050 meters in August and September. A summary of thefield work accomplished was published by Archbold, Rand, andBrass.1Rattus richardsoni, new speciesTYPE: A.M.N.H. No. 150701, adult male, near Lake Habbema,north of Mt. Wilhelmina, Netherlands New Guinea, altitude 3225meters, August 2, 1938, collector W. B. Richardson (field no.4556). The type is a skin and skull in good condition.GENERAL CHARACTERS: Externally similar to the long-haired,tawny brown Melomys lanosus found in the same general area. Itl Archbold, R., A. L. Rand, and L. J, Brass, 1942, Results of the Archbold expedi-tions, No. 41, Summary of the 1938-1939 New Guinea expedition, Bull. Amer. Mus.Nat. Hist., vol. 79, art. 3, pp. 197-288.AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATESdiffers from all hitherto described New Guinea Rattus by this hairquality and by characters of the skull and teeth. Its altitudinalrange extends well above that of any previously recorded species ofRattus of equivalent size. Only the anomalous "Stenomys"niobe group, much smaller in actual dimensions, occurs also atsuch altitudes.DESCRIPTION OF TYPE: Pelage extremely fine and silky, aver-aging 20 mm. in length on the back, composed of dense wool hairs,scattered, slender, channeled guard hairs, and a few fine, terete,blackish bristles. The color is a mixture of tawny and black, thebases gray. The under parts, also long haired, are buffy whitewith gray bases. The transition from upper parts to under parts isprogressive and ill defined. Ears large and fuscous. Arms andlegs tawny brown outside, whitish inside. Hands and the long,slender feet white. Tail with fine Rattus-type scales, each scaleaccompanied by three stiff black bristles, the bristles approxi-mately three times the length of a scale. (This character servesreadily to distinguish the skins from those of Melomys lanosus.)Skull elongate and narrow, with rostrum elongate and taperedanteriorly; braincase moderately full; interparietal somewhatnarrowed; anterior palatal foramina elongate, pointed in front,rounded behind; bullae not enlarged; interpterygoid fossa nar-row; teeth of normal Rattus character, lacking the simplificationfound in teeth of Melomys; zygomatic plate projecting well for-ward, slightly sloping, well rounded off.MEASUREMENTS OF TYPE: Skin (field measurements): headand body, 161 mm.; tail, 144; hind foot (s.u.), 39; ear fromcrown, 25. Skull (laboratory measurements): total length, 39.7;condylobasal length, 37; zygomatic breadth, 18; combinedwidth of nasals, at middle, 3, near tip, 4; least interorbital width,6.5; width of braincase, 16.6; mastoid width, 13.8; palatallength, 20; length of anterior palatal foramina, 7; combinedwidth of same, 2.7; length of bulla, 6.2; width of mesopterygoidfossa, 2.2; width of zygomatic plate, 3.5; length, crowns of mi1-3,6.3; crown of ml, 2.1 by 1.9; m2, 1.9 by 1.9; m3, 1.5 by 1.6.Besides the type, this species is represented in the Archboldcollection by 24 topotypes and the following additional specimenstaken between Lake Habbema and Mt. Wilhelmina: 3560 meters,10; 3600 meters, one; 3800 meters, three; 3850 meters, five;3900 meters, two; 3950 meters, five; 4000 meters, four; 4050meters, two.2 NO. 14211949 NEW RATTUS FROM NEW GUINEA 3The affinities of Rattus richardsoni do not seem to be with any ofthe other species of New Guinea, all of which, except the browniand niobe groups, have far more massive skulls and relativelyharsh pelage. The species instead seems to represent a new group.Superficially it shows a degree of likeness to Rattus lepturus of themountains of Java.

New Rattus from New Guinea

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