A study of Rattus exulans (Peale) (Rodentia: Muridae) in the New Guinea Highlands

Abstract

A 10-month study of R. exulans in the Eastern Highlands District combined a mark-recapture study on a 1.42-ha grid in grassland with an autopsy study of populations utilizing gardens and houses. The grid study is based on 4-day trapping runs at monthly intervals; the autopsy study on more than 600 specimens. Grassland, garden and house populations differ in basic characteristics (e.g. weights, litter sizes, breeding regimes, injuries, population composition and annual dynamics) with a continuum recognizable from grassland through gardens to houses. Garden and house populations may exist at some hazard; their survival may often require recruitment from grassland areas. For the grid population..