{{Short description|Species of rodent}} {{speciesbox | name = Dusky rat | image = | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Oakwood, M. |author2=Zichy-Woinarski, J. |date=2016 |title=''Rattus colletti'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T19326A22444443 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T19326A22444443.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Rattus | species = colletti | authority = (Thomas, 1904) | synonyms = {{specieslist|Mus colletti|Thomas, 1904}} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=Stephen |last2=Groves |first2=Colin |date=2015 |title=Taxonomy of Australian Mammals|page=213|publisher=Csiro |isbn=978-1-4863-0013-6}}</ref> }}
The '''dusky rat''' ('''''Rattus colletti''''') is an indigenous species of rodent in the family Muridae found in Australia.
==Name== Kunwinjku people of western Arnhem Land call this animal ''mulbbu'', a name also applied to other rodent species.<ref>{{cite web |title=mulbbu |url=https://www.njamed.com/#mulbbu |website=Bininj Kunwok Dictionary |publisher=Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre |access-date=12 March 2022}}</ref> It was first described in 1904 by British zoologist Oldfield Thomas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=O. |date=1904 |title=New species of Pteropus, Mus, and Pogonomys from the Australian region |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3858645 |journal=Novitates Zoologicae |volume=11 |pages=597–600|doi=10.5962/bhl.part.26839 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Range== The rat is found only in the monsoonal subcoastal plains of the Northern Territory, Australia.
==Predation== The dusky rat is eaten according to Peterson Nganjmirra<ref>Reverend Peterson Nganjmirra, personal comment in Goodfellow's, ''Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End'', 1993 {{ISBN|9781862543065}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2024}} and is prey to the Australian water python (''Liasis fuscus)'' also ranging across northern Australia.
== References == {{Reflist}}
*{{MSW3 Muroidea | id = 13001738 | page = 1468}}
{{Murinae (Rattus)}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1762897}}
Category:Rattus Category:Mammals of the Northern Territory Category:Rodents of Australia Category:Mammals described in 1904 Category:Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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