Alexandria false antechinus

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Alexandria false antechinus [1]
Pseudantechinus mimulus.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Pseudantechinus
Species:
P. mimulus
Binomial name
Pseudantechinus mimulus
(Thomas 1906)
Alexandria False Antechinus area.png
Alexandria false antechinus range

The Alexandria false antechinus (Pseudantechinus mimulus), also known as the Carpentarian false antechinus or Carpentarian pseudantechinus, is a small carnivorous marsupial, found only in a number of small, isolated localities in northern Australia. It is the smallest and rarest of the false antechinuses. [3]

Contents

Taxonomy

The Alexandria false antechinus has had a long history of confusion with the fat-tailed false antechinus (P. macdonnellensis) ever since it was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1906. W.D.L. Ride suppressed the species in 1971, placing it with the fat-tailed false antechinus, but it was restored by D.J. Kitchener in 1991. Its scientific name means "little mimic of false-antechinus". [4]

The P. mimulus is classified as an endangered specie due to the decline in habitat quality and extent as a result of fire, introduced predators, and mining. [2]

Description

The Alexandria false antechinus is coloured buff brown above and greyish white below. Its main distinguishing feature from other false antechinuses is its small size. [4] The behaviour of this species has not been described. [3]

Habitat

This species is endemic to Australia, found only in five localities: near Mount Isa in northwestern Queensland; Alexandria Station on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory; and three small islands in the Sir Edward Pellew Group, in the north-east of the territory. In 2009 it was recorded from Pungalina-Seven Emu Sanctuary in the Northern Territory. [5]

. In the 1988 census of the territories the species was found in the Centre and South West Islands, but in the 2003 census it was not located. It is believed that the P. mimulus still resides within that area, but is yet to be confirmed. [6] It inhabits stony hillsides with woodland and spinifex grass. [3] [2]

Conservation status

The Alexandria false antechinus has a very limited distribution, which has resulted in its classification by the IUCN as endangered. On the offshore islands it inhabits, it is fairly common; however, it is rare and, in 1995, had not been seen on the mainland since 1905, when it was discovered. [4]

Diet

While a lot of details about the species diet is unknown, it is believed that they eat mostly invertebrates as well as some small vertebrates. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dasyuridae</span> Family of marsupials

The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil and the extinct thylacine. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', as most members of the family are insectivores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibbler</span> Species of marsupial

The dibbler is an endangered species of marsupial. It is an inhabitant of the southwest mainland of Western Australia and some offshore islands. It is a member of the order Dasyuromorphia, and the only member of the genus Parantechinus. The dibbler is a small, nocturnal carnivore with speckled fur that is white around the eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">False antechinus</span> Genus of marsupials

The genus Pseudantechinus are members of the order Dasyuromorphia. They are often called false antechinuses, although this genus includes the sandstone dibbler, which was previously assigned to a different genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dasyurini</span> Tribe of marsupials

The tribe Dasyurini includes several genera of small carnivorous marsupials native to Australia: quolls, kowari, mulgara, kaluta, dibblers, neophascogales, pseudantechinuses, and the Tasmanian devil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swamp antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The swamp antechinus, also known as the little Tasmanian marsupial mouse, is a species of shrew-like marsupial of the family Dasyuridae and as such is related to dunnarts, quolls and the Tasmanian devil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpentarian dunnart</span> Species of marsupial

The Carpentarian dunnart also known as Butler's dunnart is a marsupial with a puffy brown or mouse grey colour above and the underside of white, similar to its close relative the Kakadu dunnart. Head to anus length is 75-88mm with a tail of 72-90mm long for a total length of 147-178mm. Weight varies from 10-20g depending on a variety of factors including sex, food abundance, habitat etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat-tailed false antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The fat-tailed false antechinus, also called the fat-tailed pseudantechinus and red-eared antechinus, is a member of the order Dasyuromorphia. It is an inhabitant of western and central Australia. Its species name, macdonnellensis, refers to the MacDonnell Ranges near Alice Springs, where it was first discovered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandstone false antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The sandstone false antechinus, also known as the sandstone pseudantechinus, the sandstone antechinus, the sandstone dibbler, Harney's antechinus and the Northern dibbler, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial, which has a patchy distribution in Australia's Northern Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ningbing false antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The Ningbing false antechinus, also known as the Ningbing pseudantechinus, is a small species of carnivorous marsupial found in north-western Australia. It is locally common throughout the Kimberley region of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolley's false antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

Woolley's false antechinus, also known as Woolley's pseudantechinus, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial belonging to the family Dasyuridae. It is found in the Australian state of Western Australia, primarily in the Pilbara, Ashburton and Murchison regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Cooper's false antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

Rory Cooper's false antechinus, also known as the tan false antechinus and the tan pseudantechinus, is a recently named species of small carnivorous marsupial which inhabits rocky outcrops in Western Australia. Nothing is known of its behaviour but it is expected that this will be similar to other members of the false antechinus genus. A study published in 2017 found no support for separation as a new species of Pseudantechinus, and the name was proposed to be synonymous with the previously described Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agile antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The agile antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is found in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawn antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The fawn antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial found in northern Australia. It is the only Antechinus to be found in the Northern Territory and has a patchy, restricted range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atherton antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The Atherton antechinus, also known as Godman's antechinus, is a species of small carnivorous, insectivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is one of the rarest members of its genus, and differs from other antechinuses in its more rufous body colour and small eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon antechinus</span> Species of marsupial

The cinnamon antechinus, also known as the Iron Ranges antechinus and the Cape York antechinus, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is the only mammal endemic to Cape York Peninsula, being confined to semideciduous forest around the McIlraith and Iron Ranges. Along with the Atherton antechinus, it is the rarest in its genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown antechinus</span> Species of mammal

The brown antechinus, also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The males die after their first breeding season, and the species holds the world record for being the world's smallest semelparous mammal.

The Carpentarian rock rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia.

References

  1. Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 27. ISBN   0-801-88221-4. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 3 Woinarski, J.; Burbidge, A.A. (2016). "Pseudantechinus mimulus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T18447A21945496. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T18447A21945496.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press. p. 60.
  4. 1 2 3 Johnson, K.A.; Langford, D.G. (1995). "Carpentarian Pseudantechinus". In Strahan, Ronald (ed.). The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books. pp. 77–78.
  5. Anon (2009). "Pungalina-Seven Emu" (PDF). Wildlife Matters (Spring 2009): 6–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25.
  6. 1 2 "Pseudantechinus mimulus — Carpentarian Antechinus".