himalayan field rat

Recent molecular research has shown that the Himalayan field rat is closely related to the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), and morphological studies confirm this.

The Himalayan field rat (Rattus nitidus), sometimes known as the white-footed Indo-Chinese rat, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.

These were in fact examples of the Himalayan field rat (Rattus nitidus), but they were only identified as such in 1977, by Guy Musser, another American biologist.

Smaller mammals include the Indian crested porcupine, European otter, goral, civet, hedgehog, Himalayan field rat, Hodgson's giant flying squirrel, wild boar, masked palm civet and Sikkim mountain vole.

Prey animals in India include chital, sambar, muntjac, mouse deer, swamp deer, wild boar, gaur, water buffalo, banteng, cattle, nilgai, goats, Indian Hares, Himalayan Field Rats and langurs.

The Himalayan field rat was first described in 1845 by Brian Houghton Hodgson, a British naturalist and ethnologist who worked in India and Nepal and gave it the name Mus nitidus, but it was later transferred to the genus Rattus.