© Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zobodat.at Bonn zoological Bulletin 63 ( 1 ): 15-114 June 2014 Murine rodents (Rodentia: Murinae) of the Myanmar-Thai-Malaysian peninsula and Singapore: taxonomy, distribution, ecology, conservation status, and illustrated identification keys 12 3 12 2 3 Uraiporn Pimsai Malcolm J. Pearch Chutamas Satasook , Sara Bumrungsri & Paul J.J. Bates , , 'Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Natural Histoiy Museum, Prince ofSongkla University>, Hat Yai. Songkhla Province, Thai- land 90112. E-mail: [email protected]: department ofBiology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University \ Hat Yai, Songkhla Province, Thailand 90112: sHarrison Institute, Bower-wood House, 15 St Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TNI 3 3AQ, UK: E-mail: pjjbates2@hotmail. com Abstract. Based on field surveys undertaken between 2010 and 2013, museum studies in Thailand and the UK, and an extensive literature review, this paper provides information on the 28 species and 12 genera of murine rodents currently known from peninsular Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia and Singapore. It incoiporates a detailed summary of past re- search, 1851-2013, of the Murinae in the study area and includes descriptive characters of the external, cranial and den- tal morphology and measurements for each of the rodent species. It lists and maps the 93 murine taxa described from the peninsula, 84 of which are currently considered to be synonyms at species level. Each of the 389 different localities on the 28 distribution maps is numbered and linked to its source, either literature or museum specimen, and listed in the on- line gazetteer. The global conservation status of each species is obtained from the IUCN Red List. Remarks are made, where data are available, on the ecology, karyology, fossil history, sperm morphology, phylogeny, and taxonomic histo- ry and ambiguities. Recommendations are made for further research. A series of illustrated matrix keys is provided to as- sist with the identification of all the murine genera and species within the study area. Key words. Taxonomy, distribution, identification keys, karyology, ecology, conservation status. INTRODUCTION Witli 2,277 species, the order Rodentia represents approx- Witmer 2004). Some of the most virulent diseases borne imately 42 % of all mammal diversity (Musser & Carleton by rodents in Southeast Asia include: hantavirus, leishma- 2005). Geographically widespread and highly adaptable, nia infection, leptospirosis, scrub typhus, toxoplasmosis rodents occupy a vast array of diverse ecological niches. and viral haemorrhagic fevers (Chaval et al. 2010; Her- They impact on the composition, structure, and succes- breteau et al. 2012, http://www.ceropath.org/research/ ro- sion of vegetation and fulfil many important ecosystem dent bomediseases). services, including assisting with nutrient cycling and the Recognising the importance of rodents, both as biolog- dispersal of seed and spores. Through their burrowing ac- ical entities and because of their association with man, the tivities, they mix and aerate soils and with their high bio- current paper, which is based on the unpublished work of mass, they provide an essential prey base for many pred- Pimsai (2012), seeks to provide a baseline for future re- ator species (Witrner 2004). search of murines in peninsular Myanmar, Thailand, A minority of species causes significant problems to Malaysia and Singapore. The study area is illustrated in man. For example, in Asia, it is considered that in any one dark grey in Fig. 1 and all subsequent maps. It should be particular area between 5 and 1 0 % of rodent taxa are ma- noted that although the northern boundary is clearly an ar- jor agricultural pests (Aplin et al. 2003). As such, they eat tifact of geography, corresponding to the northern limit of crops in the field, typically reducing yields of rice by 5 peninsular Thailand, it also has zoogeographical signifi- to 10 % (Aplin et al. 2003), 6 % in pineapples (Joomwong cance approximating as it does to the Indochinese-Sunda- 2007) and 5 % in oil palms (Aplin et al. 2003). They eat, ic transition zone, although it is recognised that the exact spoil and contaminate stored food and post-harvest loss- location of this zone varies amongst different taxa and has es of 20 % are not unusual. They also carry diseases that been interpreted in different ways by different authors can be transmitted either directly or indirectly to humans (Woodruff 2003, Woodruff &Turner 2009, Hughes et al. and livestock (Aplin et al. 2003; Chaval et al. 2010; 2011 ). Received: 18.02.2014 Corresponding editor: R. Hutterer Accepted: 18.04.2014 - © Biodiversity Heritage Library, http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/; www.zobodat.at 16 Uraipom Pimsai et al. 44 were originally described as new species and 49 as sub- species. Forty-two were described from peninsular Malaysia (as understood today), 30 from peninsular Thai- land, 19 from peninsular Myanmar and 2 from Singapore. Most were named at the start of the 20"’ Century, 65 be- tween 1 900 and 1919 and 19 between 1931 and 1941 with only six, from 1960 onwards. The most recent was de- scribed from Thailand in 1989. All but nine ( Berylmys berdmorei, Leopoldamys ciliatus, Maxomys inas, M. su- rifer, Niviventer cameroni, N. cremoriventer, Pithecheir panms, Rattus annandalei, and R. tiomanicus — highlight- ed in bold in Table 1 ) are considered today as synonyms, at species level. To further aid understanding of the tax- onomy, the type locality of each taxon is plotted on the relevant distribution map. The distribution maps are the first for all murine rodents from the study region that seek to give a higher level of geographical resolution by featuring spot localities rather than the more familiar shaded maps as available in Mar- shall (1988), Corbet & Hill (1992), and Francis (2008). Previously, some spot maps were available, as part of larg- er taxonomic studies, for certain species such as Ha- palomys longicaudatus (Musser 1972), Chiropodomys Fig. 1 . Study area: peninsular Myanmar, Thailand and gliroides (Musser 1979), Sundamys muelleri (Musser & Malaysia, and Singapore. Localities from which specimen data Newcomb 1983) and Bandicota (Musser & Brothers were obtained are mapped and listed in the Gazetteer. 1994). Literature sources for the maps were drawn from a large The paper focuses on the Murinae as this is the most number of references dating back to Blyth (1851). These speciose subfamily worldwide, with 561 species and 126 references, together with many others directly relating to genera, witlun the largest Rodent family, the Muridae, 730 murine rodents in the study area, are reviewed and sum- species and 1 50 genera (Musser & Carleton 2005). With- marised below. It is hoped that this review will provide a in the study area, the Murinae, the rats and mice, have the valuable starting point for all who wish to conduct fur- highest population sizes, the greatest biomass, the great- ther research on murine rodents in the study area. est impact on man of all the rodents, and the richest di- The majority, approximately 60 % of the 1 15 publica- versity: 28 species and 12 genera (sensu Musser & Car- tions included in the review is concerned with aspects of leton 2005) - Bandicota bengalensis (Gray). B. indica taxonomy. This is especially the case for papers and books (Bechstein), B. savilei Thomas, Berylmys berdmorei published in the first one hundred years (1851-1950). Dur- (Blyth), B. bowersii (Anderson), Chiropodomys gliroides ing this time, all 40 publications were either exclusively, (Blyth), Hapalomys longicaudatus Blyth, Lenothrix canus or primarily taxonomic and 30 included descriptions of Miller, Leopoldamys ciliatus (Bonhote), L. sabanus new murine taxa (Table 1 ). Post 1 950, researchers in the (Jentink), Maxomys inas (Bonhote), M. rajah (Thomas), peninsula began to investigate additional aspects of murine M. surifer (Miller), M. whiteheadi (Thomas), Mas mus- rodents, including reproduction, behaviour, ecology, culus Linnaeus, M. caroli Bonhote, Niviventer cameroni karyology, palaeontology, phylogeny, and the transfer of (Chasen), N. cremoriventer (Miller), N.fulvescens (Gray), diseases between rodents and man. Pithecheir parvus Kloss, Rattus andamanensis (Blyth), R. A particular aim of this paper (inter alia ) is to comple- annandalei (Bonhote), R. argentiventer (Robinson & ment and support exciting new research looking at the Kloss), R. exulans (Peale), R. norvegicus (Berkenhout), phylogeny of rodents in the region based on combined mi- R. tanezumi (Temminck), R. tinmanicus (Miller), and Sun- tochondrial and nuclear markers, for example Latinne et damys muelleri (Jentink). al. (2012, 2013b). The paper seeks to support the idea of As a baseline, the paper seeks to put the complex tax- a multi-approach to rodent identification as evinced by onomy of the Murinae from the study region into context. Chaval et al. (2010) by providing a detailed summary of This subfamily includes taxa from two tribes, the Murini the alpha taxonomy of the Murinae. It is hoped that the and Rattini, and one ill-defined group, the ‘Murinae in paper will facilitate future research of rodent taxonomy certis sedis ’ as defined by Lecompte et al. (2008). All 93 in Southeast Asia, and especially amongst in-country stu- taxa described from the area are listed in Table 1 . Of these, dents and zoologists based in Thailand, Malaysia and Bonn zoological Bulletin 63 (1 ): 15-114 ©ZFMK . © Biodiversity Heritage Library,