| Brush-tailed rabbit rat | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Conilurus |
| Species: | C. penicillatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Conilurus penicillatus (Gould, 1842) | |
The brush-tailed rabbit rat (Conilurus penicillatus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The brush-tailed rabbit-rat is one of three Conilurus species that were extant in Australia prior to European colonisation, and represents the sole surviving species of the genus. Two other species, the white-footed rabbit-rat (C. albipes) and the Capricorn rabbit-rat (C. capricornensis), are now extinct. [2] Morphological analysis established three subspecies of C. penicillatus, of which one is on Papua New Guinea and two are present within Australia: one on the Tiwi Islands off the coast of the Northern Territory, and another on the Australian mainland. [3]
The brush-tailed-rabbit-rat is a moderately sized murid rodent, weighing from 116 to 216 g with a head-body length of 135 to 227 mm and a tail length of 102 to 235 mm. [4] Typically individuals are coloured grizzled grey or brown on the upper side of the body, and white to cream coloured on the belly. The long tail ends in a slight brush structure with either a black or white tail tip. [4]
The brush-tailed rabbit-rat is a semi-arboreal, nocturnal species that spends some of its time foraging on the ground. Individuals tend to den in trees such as Eucalyptus miniata and Eucalyptus tetrodonta , as well as hollow logs on the ground. The species makes use of smaller hollows and hollows that are closer to the ground, than other co-occurring and larger-bodied mammal species such as the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpeculus) and the black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii). [5] This may make the brush-tailed rabbit-rat more susceptible to predation and destruction by high-intensity savanna fires than these species.
The brush-tailed rabbit-rat has a small, poorly known distribution in Papua New Guinea, and a larger distribution within Australia. The species was formerly much more common and widespread than it is currently. On the Australian mainland, the species has substantially declined, with a study in the Northern Territory finding that its extent of occurrence has declined by more than 65%. [6] The same study found that the species is contracting towards geographic areas that are wetter and lower than where it was found historically. [6] Population declines are not limited to the mainland, with one study finding a 64% reduction in trapping success on the Tiwi Islands between the year 2002 and 2015. [7]
The species has very few contemporary records from the Western Australian portion of the species distribution, but was formerly known from the Mitchell Plateau region of the Kimberley, with sparse records from other areas (e.g Prince Regent National Park). In the Northern Territory, there have been no mainland records from outside of the Cobourg Peninsula in more than ten years. The species was reintroduced to the Darwin region, however this reintroduction attempt failed and the species is also considered extirpated from Kakadu National Park (where many vertebrate species have declined despite the 'protected' status of the region).
Population genomic analysis of the two Australian subspecies found high levels of differentiation among populations, including between the Tiwi Islands of Bathurst and Melville. [8] The same study showed a substantial reduction in relatedness among individuals over 5 km distances, although significant values of spatial autocorrelation of genotypes persisted for distances of more than 100 km. This suggests that individuals tend to disperse much smaller distances than the co-occurring northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), for which significant spatial autocorrelation exists at 500 km. [9] Genetic diversity of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat was found to be highest on Melville Island, followed by Cobourg Peninsula, and lowest on Bathurst Island and at the Mitchell Plateau. [8]
The kowari, also known by its Diyari name kariri, is a small carnivorous marsupial native to the gibber deserts of central Australia. It is the sole member of the genus Dasyuroides.
The northern quoll, also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat or the satanellus is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia.
The Malagasy rodents are the sole members of the subfamily Nesomyinae. These animals are the only native rodents of Madagascar, come in many shapes and sizes, and occupy a wide variety of ecological niches. There are nesomyines that resemble gerbils, rats, mice, voles, and even rabbits. There are arboreal, terrestrial, and semi-fossorial varieties.
The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families except the Cricetidae and Muridae, and is larger than all mammal orders except the bats and the remainder of the rodents.
The northern brown bandicoot, a marsupial species, is a bandicoot found only on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and nearby islands, mainly Papua New Guinea. It is not, however, found far inland.
The rabbit rats, genus Conilurus represent an unusual genus of Old World rats from Australia, New Guinea, and Melville Island.
The black-footed tree-rat, also known as Djintamoonga, is one of two endemic Australian rodent species in the genus Mesembriomys. Both the black-footed tree-rat and its congener, the golden-backed tree-rat, are found in northern Australia. The species is one of the largest murids found in Australia.
The spectacled hare-wallaby is a species of macropod found in Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, a small sub-population is found on Barrow Island, while the mainland type is widespread, though in decline, across northern regions of the country.
The plains rat(Pseudomys australis), also known as the palyoora, plains mouse and eastern mouse, is a conilurine rodent native to arid and semi-arid Australia. Referred to as the pallyoora or yarlie by Indigenous groups, the plains rat was once widely distributed across central Australia, including north-west New South Wales and south-west Queensland; however, habitat degradation due to grazing, introduced predators and drought have contributed to its decline. Consequently, the plains rat has been listed as 'presumed extinct' in New South Wales and Victoria, 'endangered' in the Northern Territory and Queensland and 'vulnerable' in Western Australia and South Australia. While recent research has indicated the presence of the plains rat in areas such as the Fowlers Gap and Strzelecki Desert regions of New South Wales and within the Diamantina National Park in Queensland, there are only five sub-populations currently recognised nationally, none of which coincide with recent discoveries of the plains rat. As the current population trend of the plains rat has been listed as 'declining' by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the IUCN conservation status for the species is 'vulnerable'.
The pale field rat is a small rat endemic to Australia. It is a nocturnal and herbivorous rodent that resides throughout the day in shallow burrows made in loose sand. Once widespread, its range has become greatly reduced and it is restricted to the grasslands, sedges, and cane-fields at the north and east of the continent. Its fur is an attractive yellow-brown colour, with grey or cream at the underside. This medium-sized rat has a tail shorter than its body.
The greater stick-nest rat, also known as the housebuilding rat and wopilkara, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks. Once widespread across southern Australia, the population was reduced after European colonisation to a remnant outpost on South Australia's Franklin Islands. The species has since been reintroduced to a series of protected and monitored areas, with varying levels of success.
The western chestnut mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is native to northern Australia and various close islands, with the vast majority found in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The Arnhem Land rock rat also known as the Arnhem rock-rat and by the Indigenous Australian name of kodjperr is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Top End Region of the Northern Territory in Australia.
The central rock rat, also known as the central thick-tailed rock-rat, Macdonnell Range rock-rat, and Australian native mouse, is a critically endangered species of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Australia.
The rufous owl, also known as the rufous boobook, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It was described in 1846 by John Gould, an English ornithologist. Its common name reflects the rufous-coloured feathers that these owls are covered with in adulthood. While it is uncommon, the species has a wide range, including Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
The fawn hopping mouse is a medium sized rodent endemic to the Channel Country Bioregion of northeast South Australia and southwest Queensland in Australia. They inhabit open gibber (stony) and clay plains of the Lake Eyre basin. While the population and distribution has been greatly reduced since European settlement, the current population shows little evidence of significant decline and is consequently listed as 'Near Threatened'.
The Capricorn rabbit rat is an extinct species of rodent from Queensland, Australia. It was described as a new species in 2010 on the basis of Pleistocene and Holocene dental remains. The specific name refers to the Capricorn Caves in Queensland, one of the locations where remains were unearthed. Some of the subfossil material post-dates the European settlement of Australia, so the Capricorn rabbit rat is a modern extinction. Since there has not been a targeted survey for the Capricorn rabbit rat, there is a thin hope of its survival, although this is unlikely.
The northern masked owl is a large forest owl in the family Tytonidae. The northern kimberli subspecies was identified as a novel race of the Australian masked owl by the Australian ornithologist Gregory Macalister Mathews in his 1912 reference list of Australian birds. The northern masked owl occurs in forest and woodland habitats in northern Australia, ranging from the northern Kimberley region to the northern mainland area of the Northern Territory and the western Gulf of Carpentaria. While the Australian masked owl is recognized as the largest species in the family Tytonidae, the northern masked owl is one of the smallest of the Australian masked owl subspecies.
Hydromyini is a very large, diverse tribe of muroid rodents in the subfamily Murinae. They are the dominant native rodents in Australasia and one of only two native rodent groups there, the other being the R. fuscipes group of the genus Rattus in the tribe Rattini. They are also found in parts of Southeast Asia.
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