Our Correspondent
IMPHAL, March 15
Four new species of rats were reported in the country by the Scientists in Manipur following four years(2010-2014) of research and exploration works in the border state.
The new species of rat are Rattus Norvegicus, Rattus Tanezumi, Rattus stoicus and Niviventer confucianus, according to Manipur based Scientists of Central Agricultural University, Iroisemba and Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, Takyelpat.Chingangbam Dhananjoy Singh, the Scientist behind the recording of the new rats in an exclusive chat with Manipur Update said Rattus Norvegicus also known as Brown rat is world wide in distribution but it was first reported from Manipur in the country along with Rattus Tanezumi (or Asian house rat) and Niviventer confucianus (or Chinese white bellied rat)which is endemic to China. Rattus stoicus is similar with Andaman rat, but we’re yet to confirm it, he added.
Guest lecturer in Central Agricultural University’s Plant breeding and genetics department and DM College of Science(Zoology department) said that the Rattus Norvegicus were caught from the valley area of Imphal west district, Rattus Tanezumi from Karang,a lake island (of Loktak lake), Niviventer confucianus and Rattus Stoicus from Ukhrul, a hill station in Manipur.Thought to have originated in northern China, the Brown rat has now spread to all continents except Antartica.
This rodent lives wherever human live, particularly in urban areas
Dhananjoy further added that rats from South East Asian countries used Manipur as a transit point on way for worldwide distribution through India. “So a systematic study on rats in Manipur is bright. Manipur has more than two dozen rat species out of about 700 in India,he informed.
Expressing that rat plays a vital role in maintaining the eco-system of the region besides playing a key role in , he said it acts as an scavenger, pollinator and even as a food etc.
The diversity of rats of the Manipur, as this land is in the junction of Indo-Burma hotspots and South East Asia that overlaps with four hotspots of biodiversity containing exceptional concentrations of endemic species and facing huge habitat loss, remains largely unexplored besides some of the works of the Zoological Survey of India,according to a publication on 'The molecular perspective of Manipuri rats' in Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) Journal of Biotechnology.
Out of a total of 4,629 species of mammals known in the world, 372 species occur in the Indian union. Of these, 69 species are reported from Manipur.
