Rattus rattus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Denys, Christiane, Missoup, Alain Didier, Nicolas, Violaine, Sylla, Morlaye, Douno, Mory, Kadjo, Blaise, Lalis, Aude & Monadjem, Ara, 2025, Annotated checklist of rodents from a biodiversity hotspot, Mount Nimba (West Africa), Zoosystema 47 (27), pp. 617-689 : 648

Rattus rattus ( Linnaeus, 1758)

Mus rattus Linnaeus, 1758: 61 .

Rattus rattus – Fischer 1803: 128.

REMARKS

This commensal rodent was recorded in Guinean Nimba as early as 1958 (Heim de Balsac & Lamotte). There are four specimens from Bossou, Zouguépo, and Nion. Misonne & Verschuren (1976) reported 15 individuals found in new Camp, Grassfield, Yekepa inside houses. Coe (1975) found it abundant in and around houses all over the Nimba area.

All recently collected specimens are juveniles whose skull, skin and dentition fit well with R. rattus found elsewhere in Africa ( Table 7 ). The skull is robust with well marked fronto-parietal crests and short and wide nasals. In ventral view the molar rows are parallel and the incisive foramina relatively long ending at the posterior level of the first M1/ root. The tympanic bullae are round and short.