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Animal Database
Bulldog Rat
FileRattus nativitatis
Information
Range Christmas Island
Scientific Classification
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Rodentia
Family Muridae
Genus Rattus
Species Rattus nativitatis
Conservation Status
EXSpecies
Extinct

The Bulldog Rat (Rattus nativitatis) was a species of rat endemic to Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. The rats lived on the higher hills and denser forests of the island. They had short tails and their backs were covered in a two centimetre thick layer of fat. They lived in small colonies, in burrows among the roots of trees or under hollow logs in primary forest. They were sluggish and never climbed and may have seemed half-dazed in daylight. The last record dates from 1903. They may have succumbed to a disease brought by black rats that had been inadvertently introduced by human sailors.

Description[]

Life history[]

Extinction[]

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