Rattus browni gawae Troughton, 1945

Rec. Aust. Mus. 21(6): 374. (25 June 1945).

Common name. Pacific Rat.

Current name. Rattus exulans browni (Alston, 1877), following Taylor et al. (1982) and Musser & Carleton (2005).

Holotype. M.6370, by original designation. Female, subadult, skull, study skin, collected on 27 July 1937 by Lieut.-Commander W. H. Harrington, registered on 18 November 1937.

Condition. Cranium with hole in right auditory bulla; both dentaries complete. Study skin: bald patch on left side of rump.

Type locality. Gawa Island atoll, Marshall Bennett Islands, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.

Comments. Description apparently based on the holotype only. Troughton gave no indication of other specimens in a type series and we have found no other Rattus from Gawa Island in the AM database. Troughton believed the holotype to be an adult female but Taylor et al. (1982) considered it to be a juvenile female.