Greater stick-nest rat

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Greater stick-nest rat
Greater Sticknest Rat.JPG
CITES Appendix II (CITES) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Leporillus
Species:
L. conditor
Binomial name
Leporillus conditor
(Sturt, 1848) [3]
Distribution Map Leporillus conditor AUS (2).png

The greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor), also known as the housebuilding rat [4] and wopilkara, [5] 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. [6]

Contents

Taxonomy

A description of the species was given in a report of the explorer Charles Sturt, and published in 1848. [3] [7] The species was placed as genus Mus , and later assigned to Leporillus , and so allied to the murid family of rodents. The type was collected in vegetation on the Darling River, around 45 miles from Laidley Ponds, the disposition of this specimen is unknown. [7]

Description

The species has a broad and short head, with wide and rounded ears. The length of the head and body combined in 190 to 260 millimetres, and a tail noticeably shorter than that, measuring from 148 to 180 mm. The weight ranges from 190 to 450 grams. The pelage is a uniform grey-brown colour at the upper-side, the buff to grey beneath is paler and the two colours blend where they meet. The visible parts of the foot are whitish at the inside and greyish brown at the outside, this is from 42 to 48 mm in length. The female possesses four teats, two pairs at the inguinal region. [8]

Behaviour

The behavioural description is of a passive and gentle species, largely active at night, with a herbivorous diet largely composed of succulent leaves. The 'nest' of L. conditor is sited at a cave, rocky outcrop or over a shrub, the construction reaching a metre in height and around two metres in width. The larger part of the nest is tightly woven from sticks, the inner part is built from softer grassy material. [8]

Ownership of nests appears typically to be passed down through relatively sedentary, genetically related female lines, with males typically distributing throughout the landscape at sexual maturity. [9]

Mainland populations were reported in historical accounts to prefer building nests over slight depressions in the ground or above the burrows of other animals, which were used as escape routes. Some animals were known to weight their nests with small rocks. [10] [11] [12] Nests were reported to be strong and secure enough to repel dingos and other predators. [12]

Breeding may occur throughout the year, although most often recorded during the austral spring, April to May, and they produce a litter of between one and four young. [8]

The population on Reevesby Island is highly associated with the invasive exotic weed African boxthorn, which provides shelter from predators due to its thorny foliage, and food in the form of leaves and fruit. [13]

Distribution and habitat

The species' natural habitat is dry savanna, with perennial shrubland, especially of succulent and semi-succulent plant species including the chenopod and pig-face genera. [14]

It was formerly widespread in semi-arid habitat on the mainland, [15] where the soils were shallow with calcareous underlying strata. [16] Before the sharp decline in population in the late nineteenth century, the species was found south of a line from Shark Bay to the meeting of the rivers at the Murray–Darling basin and above the 28° southern latitude.

The drastic reduction in the range of this mammal is associated with the collapse of mammalian fauna in Australia between about 1875 and 1925, which is often linked to the decline of aboriginal land management and burning practices, widespread land clearance and agriculture, the introduction of foreign grazing animals including sheep, cattle and rabbits, and invasions by exotic predators like the European red fox and feral cats. The susceptibility of this species to a theorised epizootic event, an unidentified disease spreading from Western Australia, was estimated to be high in modelling of mammal's relative immunity. [17]

The drastic contraction of the distribution range continued until the species could only be found on the Franklin Islands in the Nuyts Archipelago, and from this population the species was reintroduced to protected areas on the mainland and other islands. [8]

Reintroductions and conservation programs

There are introduced or reintroduced populations established on St Peter Island in the Nuyts Archipelago, Reevesby Island and Salutation Island. [18]

A reintroduced population at Arid Recovery, a fenced reserve at Roxby Downs in South Australia, persisted for over 20 years, [19] but is now believed to be locally extinct, following periods of drought, high temperatures and degradation of food plants by over-abundant burrowing bettongs. [20]

The outcome of a series of translocations to the fenced Mount Gibson Sanctuary in Western Australia is undetermined. [6] However, in August 2024 the population was assessed as "close to local extinction" following dry summer conditions in 2023-24. [21]

Reintroduction attempts began at a fenced landscape within NSW's Mallee Cliffs National Park in September 2020, [22] with the species observed as persisting during formal monitoring in 2023. [23] The species was reintroduced to Dirk Hartog Island in May 2021, with early monitoring suggesting ongoing survival. [24] [25] [26]

A high proportion of reintroduction attempts for the species have not been successful. [27] Attempts to reintroduce the species failed at Faure Island and Heirisson Prong in Western Australia, at Yookamurra Sanctuary and Venus Bay Conservation Park in South Australia, and at Scotia Sanctuary and Sturt National Park in NSW. [28] [29]

Most failures have been blamed on inadequate habitat, food or release protocols, or excessive predation by monitors, raptors or feral cats. [6] Hyperdispersal and stress responses due to the presence of predatory goannas were blamed for the failure of the reintroduction on Faure Island. [6]

The catastrophic loss of animals at Sturt National Park — where 75% of the reintroduced rats died within just five days of release — was provisionally blamed on the site's microclimate differing from the rats' origin point, Reevesby Island. [30] This was speculated to have contributed to dehydration, stress and malnutrition among the animals, despite the provision of supplementary wet food. [30] However, it was also acknowledged that the reintroduction site hosts high densities of the predatory crest-tailed mulgara, which had been reintroduced to the site first, on the assumption the predators would not be a threat to the rats. [30]

The species is currently being bred in captivity at Monarto Safari Park and Adelaide Zoo, with progeny provided to reintroduction projects. [31] Individuals from a captive population at Taronga Zoological Park have been used in research to improve the knowledge of health data of those in captivity. [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturt National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Sturt National Park is a protected national park that is located in the arid far north-western corner of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 325,329-hectare (803,910-acre) national park is situated approximately 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) northwest of Sydney and the nearest town is Tibooburra, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) away.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirk Hartog Island</span> Island on coast of Gascoyne region of Western Australia

Dirk Hartog Island is an island off the Gascoyne coast of Western Australia, within the Shark Bay World Heritage Area. It is about 80 kilometres long and between 3 and 15 kilometres wide and is Western Australia's largest and most western island. It covers an area of 620 square kilometres and is approximately 850 kilometres north of Perth.

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

The woylie or brush-tailed bettong is a small, critically endangered mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is active at night, digging for fungi to eat. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. Once widespread, the woylie mostly died out from habitat loss and introduced predators such as foxes. It is currently restricted to two small areas in Western Australia. There were two subspecies: B. p. ogilbyi in the west, and the now-extinct B. p. penicillata in the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gould's mouse</span> Species of rodent

Gould's mouse, also known as the Shark Bay mouse and djoongari in the Pintupi and Luritja languages, is a species of rodent in the murid family. Once ranging throughout Australia from Western Australia to New South Wales, its range has since been reduced to five islands off the coast of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser stick-nest rat</span> Species of mammal

The lesser stick-nest rat or white-tipped stick-nest rat is an extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It lived in central Australia where it built nests of sticks that accumulate over years and can become very large. The last confirmed sighting of this rat was in 1933 although there is a credible report of a sighting in 1970. In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed it as "critically endangered", suggesting that it may yet survive in remote areas of unsurveyed territory, but revised its evaluation to "extinct" again in 2016, based on an assessment in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monarto Safari Park</span> Open-range zoo in South Australia


Monarto Safari Park, formerly known as Monarto Zoological Park and Monarto Zoo, is a 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) open-range zoo located in South Australia administered by the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. By area, Monarto Safari Park is the largest zoo in Australia. It is located at Monarto, approximately 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Adelaide's centre.

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

The western quoll is Western Australia's largest endemic mammalian carnivore. One of the many marsupial mammals native to Australia, it is also known as the chuditch. The species is currently classed as near-threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-footed tree-rat</span> Species of mammal

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.

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

The boodie, also known as the burrowing bettong or Lesueur's rat-kangaroo, is a small, furry, rat-like mammal native to Australia. Once common throughout the continent, it is now restricted to a few coastal islands. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives in burrows and is active at night when it forages for fungi, roots, and other plant matter. It is about the size of a rabbit and, like most marsupials, carries its young in a pouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western barred bandicoot</span> Species of marsupial

The Western barred bandicoot, also known as the Shark Bay bandicoot or the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuaries on the mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous hare-wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The rufous hare-wallaby, also known as the mala, is a small macropod found in Australia. It was formerly widely distributed across the western half of the continent, but naturally occurring populations are now confined to Bernier Island and Dorre Island Islands off Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faure Island</span> Island in Shark Bay, Western Australia

Faure Island is a 58 km2 island pastoral lease and nature reserve, east of the Francois Peron National Park on the Peron Peninsula, in Shark Bay, Western Australia. It lies in line with the Monkey Mia resort to the west, and the Wooramel River on the eastern shore of Shark Bay. It is surrounded by the Shark Bay Marine Park and Shark Bay World Heritage Site and, as the Faure Island Sanctuary, is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).

<i>Leporillus</i> Genus of rodents

Leporillus is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Australia. It contains the following species:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden-backed tree-rat</span> Species of mammal

The golden-backed tree rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, found only in Australia.

Scotia Sanctuary is a 650 km2 (250 sq mi) nature reserve in the south-western plains of New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the border with South Australia. It is located in the Murray Mallee subregion of the Murray-Darling Depression Bioregion, 150 km (93 mi) south of the city of Broken Hill. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).

Yookamurra Sanctuary is a 50 km2 private protected area in the Murraylands region of South Australia, between the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Murray River, 24 km north-east of the town of Sedan. It is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).

Heirisson Prong is a community managed reserve established for the conservation of threatened mammals at Shark Bay in Western Australia. The reserve is at the point of a long narrow peninsula of the same name that juts into Shark Bay from the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydromyini</span> Tribe of rodents

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.

References

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