Rattus gestri aramia Troughton, 1937a

Rattus gestri aramia Troughton, 1937a

Rec. Aust. Mus. 20(2): 119. ( 27 August 1937).

Common name. Dusky Field Rat.

Current name. Rattus sordidus aramia Troughton, 1937a ; following Taylor et al. (1982) and Musser & Carleton (2005). Aplin & Helgen et al. (2016) caution that R. sordidus (Gould, 1858) might represent more than one species. Robins et al. (2014) provided evidence that gestri represents a full species but they did not determine whether aramia belonged with sordidus or gestri .

Holotype. M.4893 by original designation.Adult male, skull ( Fig. 44 View Figure 44 ), study skin, collected on [ 26 December 1922] by Allan R. McCulloch; registered on 7 March 1930. Metal tag stamped “45” tied to skin is possibly collector’s number.

Condition. Cranium, with hole in left auditory bulla; left dentary missing coronoid process; right dentary complete. Study skin: tail tip is detached, otherwise skin in good condition but excessive anterior body stuffing does not reflect life-like proportions.

Type locality. [Totani village], “Aramia Lakes district near the mouth of the Aramia River in the Western Division of Papua”, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.

Paratype. M.4895 by original designation. Young adult female ( allotype), skull, study skin, same details as holotype.

Comments. The type series apparently consists of two specimens, obtained on Frank Hurley’s second expedition to Papua New Guinea .