NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Philippine Forest Rat
Rattus everetti (Günther, 1879)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Rattus everetti
Gonzalez JCT, de Guia APO, Dimalibot JC, Pantua KV, Gustilo WO, Bantayan NC (2020) Understorey to canopy vertebrate fauna of a lowland evergreen forest in Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Philippines. Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e56999. · CC BY 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Philippine forest rat (Rattus everetti) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Philippines, and is located throughout the archipelago. The scientific name commemorates British colonial administrator and zoological collector Alfred Hart Everett. R. everetti is widespread throughout its range and feeds on a diet of fruit, seeds, worms and insects. There are no major threats to the species, which has been found to be competitively superior to introduced Rattus species in disturbed and undisturbed forest habitat.
Wikipedia contributors, Philippine forest rat; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:15:21.545275+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rattus everetti (Günther, 1879)
- Name authority
- (Günther, 1879)
- Common name
- Philippine Forest Rat
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Muridae
- Genus
- Rattus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
- genusRattus Fischer, 1803
- speciesRattus everetti (Günther, 1879)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Rattus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Burnished Enggano RatRattus adustus Sody, 1940 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Indochinese Forest RatRattus andamanensis (Blyth, 1860) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Annandale's Sundaic RatRattus annandalei (Bonhote, 1903) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ricefield RatRattus argentiventer (Robinson & Kloss, 1916) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Kinabalu RatRattus baluensis (Thomas, 1894) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southwestern Xanthurus RatRattus bontanus Thomas, 1921 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nicobar Archipelago RatRattus burrus (Miller, 1902) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Australian Dusky RatRattus colletti (Thomas, 1904) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Sula Archipelago RatRattus elaphinus Sody, 1941 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Enggano Island RatRattus enganus (Miller, 1906) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hainald's Flores Island RatRattus hainaldi Kitchener, How & Maharadatunkamsi, 1991 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hoogerwerf's Sumatran RatRattus hoogerwerfi Chasen, 1939 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mus tagulayensis Mearns, 1905 Mearns, 1905 | synonym |
| Epimys gala Miller, 1910 Miller, 1910 | synonym |
| Mus albigularis Mearns, 1905 Mearns, 1905 | synonym |
| Epimys tyrannus Miller, 1910 Miller, 1910 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585519 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4RM4N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.