View source for Biology:Maclear's rat

{{Short description|Extinct species of rodent}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Maclear's rat
|image = MusMacleariSmit.jpg
|status = EX
|status_system = IUCN3.1
|extinct = 1903
|status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Lamoreux, J. |author2=Woinarski, J. |author3=Burbidge, A.A. |date=2016 |title=''Rattus macleari'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T19344A22440729 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T19344A22440729.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
|genus = Rattus
|species = macleari
|authority = (Thomas, 1887)
|synonyms = ''Mus macleari'' <small>Thomas, 1887</small><ref name=descr>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsofgen87zool#page/513/mode/1up|author=Thomas, Oldfield|pages=513–514|year=1887|title=Report on a Zoological Collection made by the Officers of HMS Flying-Fish at Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Communicated by Dr. A. Gunther, VPZS, Keeper of the Zoological Department, British Museum|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London}}</ref>
}}
'''Maclear's rat''' ('''''Rattus macleari''''') is an extinct large [[Biology:Rat|rat]] [[Biology:Endemism|endemic]] to Christmas Island in the [[Earth:Indian Ocean|Indian Ocean]]. It was one of two species of rat native to Christmas Island, alongside the [[Biology:Bulldog rat|bulldog rat]]. Abundant, unfamiliar with and seemingly unafraid of humans, large numbers of the creatures emerged and foraged in all directions at night. Making querulous squeaks, the rats entered the [[Challenger expedition|''Challenger'' expedition]]'s [[Engineering:Tent|tent]]s and shelters in 1886, ran over sleepers, and upset everything in the search and fight for food. Maclear's rat might have been responsible for keeping the population of the [[Biology:Christmas Island red crab|Christmas Island red crab]] in check, as recent numbers of the crab are greater than in the past. It is thought that [[Biology:Black rat|black rat]]s inadvertently introduced by the expedition infected the Maclear's rats with a disease (possibly a trypanosome),<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Pickering J. |author2=Norris C.A. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996| title= New evidence concerning the extinction of the endemic murid ''Rattus macleari'' from Christmas Island, Indian Ocean| journal= Australian Mammalogy | volume=19| pages=19–25|doi=10.1071/AM96019 }}</ref> which in turn could have contributed to the species' decline.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Wyatt KB, Campos PF, Gilbert MT, Kolokotronis SO, Hynes WH|display-authors=0 |year=2008| title= Historical mammal extinction on Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) correlates with introduced infectious disease|journal= PLOS ONE |volume=3|issue=11| page= e3602| doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003602| pmid=18985148| pmc=2572834|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.3602W |doi-access=free }}</ref> The last recorded sighting was in 1903, although it is possible that Maclear's rats [[Biology:Hybrid|hybrid]]ized with black rats.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Flannery, Tim |author2=Schouten, Peter |name-list-style=amp |title=A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press, New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-87113-797-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gapinnature00timf }}</ref> A hard tick (''Ixodes nitens''), described as an ectoparasite of Maclear's rat, is also thought to be extinct.<ref>{{cite journal|journal= Parasites & Vectors |year=2011| volume=4|page= 71| doi=10.1186/1756-3305-4-71|pmid=21554736|pmc=3114005| title=Coendangered hard-ticks: threatened or threatening?|author1= Andrei Daniel Mihalca|author2= Călin Mircea Gherman|author3= Vasile Cozma|name-list-style= amp |doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:MaclearsRatSkull.png|thumb|left|Skull]]
Said to be related to ''Rattus xanthurus'' of Sulawesi and ''R. everetti'' of the Philippines, this species was grizzled brown above and lighter on the underside. The lower back had prominent long and black hairs that projected above the shorter fur. The base of the tail was dark with the distal half being scaly white.<ref name=ext/>

[[File:MaclearsRat-PLoSOne.png|left|thumb|Extinction timeline for Christmas Island rats]]
The rat is named after Captain John Maclear (1838–1907) of the British survey-ship HMS ''Flying-Fish'', who collected the specimen from Christmas Island in 1886. It was described as a new species by Oldfield Thomas the next year, although it was originally described under the genus ''[[Biology:Mus (genus)|Mus]]''.<ref name=descr/><ref name=ext>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/stream/extinctvanishing00harprich#page/206/mode/1up|pages=206–208| title=Extinct and vanishing mammals of the Old World|author=Harper, Francis| year=1945| publisher=American Committee for International Wild Life Protection|place=New York}}</ref> Maclear was earlier commander on HMS ''Challenger'' for the ''Challenger'' Expedition of 1872–1876 under its commission captain, Sir George Nares.

A DNA study found Maclear's rat to be the sister species of [[Biology:Hainald's rat|Hainald's rat]] native to the island of Flores, with the [[Biology:Clade|clade]] containing the two being sister to the clade containing ''[[Biology:Nesokia|Nesokia]]'' and ''[[Biology:Bandicota|Bandicota]]''; this clade, in turn, is sister to the Australasian ''[[Biology:Rattus|Rattus]]'' radiation, making ''Rattus'' as currently defined [[Biology:Paraphyly|paraphyletic]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=THOMSON|first1=VICKI|last2=WIEWEL|first2=ANDREW|last3=CHINEN|first3=ALDO|last4=MARYANTO|first4=IBNU|last5=SINAGA|first5=M. H.|last6=HOW|first6=RIC|last7=APLIN|first7=KEN|last8=SUZUKI|first8=HITOSHI|date=2018-08-15|title=A perspective for resolving the systematics of Rattus, the vertebrates with the most influence on human welfare|journal=Zootaxa|volume=4459|issue=3|pages=431–452|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4459.3.2|pmid=30314119|s2cid=52975664 |issn=1175-5334}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Biology:Trypanosoma lewisi|Trypanosoma lewisi]]''

==References==
{{Reflist|32em}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q674054}}

[[Category:Rattus]]


{{Sourceattribution|Maclear's rat}}