| Carpentarian rock rat | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Zyzomys |
| Species: | Z. palatalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Zyzomys palatalis | |
The Carpentarian rock rat (Zyzomys palatalis) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. [3] It is found only in Australia.
The description of the species was published by Darrell Kitchener in 1989, emerging from a revision of the genus Zyzomys . The holotype was a pregnant female, collected at Wollogorang Station, in a deep ravine called Echo Gorge. The sandstone environment of the type location was an association of plants that included Eucalyptus dichromophloia . The specific epithet palatis is derived from Latin, and refers to the characteristic morphology of their palate. [2]
It is a small and compact conilurine rodent. Its fur is grey-brown above and pale below. The tail is used to store fat at its base, making it carrot-shaped; the skin of the tail is fragile and easily damaged by handling. The average weight of individuals is about 120 g.
It has a very limited range, being currently known from only five localities within the Wollogorang Station pastoral lease of the Northern Territory, close to the border with Queensland, near the Gulf of Carpentaria. Crucial habitat characteristics are rugged sandstone gorges with a cover of dry monsoon vine-thicket or tropical woodland, and with access to permanent water.
The estimated size of the wild population of this species is less than 2000. [4] The main threat is from hot, late dry-season, fires. It is classified as being Critically Endangered. It is subject to conservation management, including a captive breeding program at the Territory Wildlife Park. [5] The captive colony from the Territory Wildlife Park has aided in a small study performed to improve health assessments of captive and wild Carpentarian rock rat populations. [6]
The dusky hopping mouse, is a small rodent endemic to Australia, inhabiting desert regions characterised by sand dunes. Populations have experienced significant declines since the arrival of Europeans, and continue to be subject to threatening processes. It is currently listed as a threatened species.
Zyzomys is a genus of rodents with unusually thick, long tails. Five species of the genus are known in Australia, where they are called rock rats or thick-tailed rats. The genus was classified by Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas in 1909.
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.
The Alexandria false antechinus, 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.
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 Elvira rat is a critically endangered species of rodent in the family Muridae. The species was first described by Sir John Ellerman in 1946. It is found only in the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India.
The Ryukyu long-tailed giant rat or Ryukyu rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is the only extant species in the genus Diplothrix. It is found only in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.
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 long-footed water rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in the mountains of southern Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forest.
The long-tailed hopping mouse is an extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was found only in Australia. It is known from a handful of specimens, the last of which was collected in 1901 or possibly 1902. It is presumed to have become extinct within a few decades from then – possibly several decades in view of a skull fragment found in an owl pellet in 1977. The cause of extinction is unknown, but may be a variety of factors including predation and habitat alteration. Little is known of its biology other than that it dug burrows in stiff clay soils. It was less a pest to humans than other hopping mice, although it would eat raisins. The mouse was mainly gray in colour with small pink ears and big eyes with a long hairy pink tail about two inches longer than its own body. It was first described by John Gould on the basis of specimens sent to him from Australia.
The Ugi naked-tailed rat is a poorly known and possibly extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is known from a single specimen collected on Ugi Island in the Solomon Islands.
The masked white-tailed rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, in north-east Queensland.
The common rock rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, where it lives in the rocky areas of woodlands, grasslands and low open forests, particularly on the talus, or scree, of cliff slopes. As a nocturnal animal, it spends the daytime nesting in cool rock crevices. Direct exposure to the sun can quickly result in heat stroke and death.
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 Kimberley rock rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia, specifically in the northern tropical part of the Northern Territory and adjacent Kimberley region of Western Australia, in high-altitude closed forest.
The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. The Gulf Country is crossed by the Savannah Way highway.
The Carpentaria tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northern Australia.
The Wollogorang Important Bird Area is a 726 km2 tract of land straddling the border between the Northern Territory and Queensland in northern Australia.
