The bush rat or Australian bush rat (Rattus fuscipes) is a small Australian nocturnal animal. It is an omnivore and one of the most common indigenous species of rat on the continent, found in many heathland areas of Victoria and New South Wales. Taxonomy The description of the species by G. R. Waterhouse was published in the second part of the series Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, edited by Charles Darwin. The species was assigned to the genus Mus, a once broader classification, and later placed with the genus Rattus. The collection of the type specimen was made when HMS Beagle was anchored at King George Sound, a port at the southwest of the continent. The capture was noted by Darwin as "caught in a trap baited with cheese, amongst the bushes …". The type locality has been determined as Little Grove, Western Australia, south of Mount Melville in the city of Albany. The population is regarded as the fuscipes species group, as the species has received various treatments of subspecies. Four subspecies are recognised, each occurring in different regions or habitat, these are Rattus fuscipes assimilis, common in the coastal region of the south and east of continent, Rockhampton, Queensland to Timboon in Victoria Rattus fuscipes coracius, north-east Queensland, Cooktown and Townsville, in rainforest at low or high altitudes Rattus fuscipes fuscipes, the nominate found in south-west Australia extends from Jurien Bay to Israelite Bay Rattus fuscipes greyii, southern subspecies found from Eyre Peninsula to west of Portland in Victoria The subspecies R. fuscipes coracius was once supposed to share a closer ancestry with the Cape York species Rattus leucopus, which share a distribution range, although later evidence has not supported this morphological similarity. Description While there are not many characteristics that readily distinguish the bush rat from other Rattus species, it is characterised by having small tympanic bullae and a straight incisive foramen. Adult bush rats are smaller than the Australian swamp rat (Rattus lutreolus) and in addition, the bush rat's foot pads are a pink colour, whereas the swamp rat's foot pads are dark brown. The hair at the foot is short and pale in colour, subspecies Rattus fuscipes coracius is notably darker. The feet are pentadactyl and all digits are clawed. The tail is a pink shade of brown, almost free of hair, with scales that overlap and give an obvious ringed appearance. The