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]

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. [13]

It was formerly widespread in semi-arid habitat on the mainland, [14] where the soils were shallow with calcareous underlying strata. [15] 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. [16]

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] There are now introduced or reintroduced populations on St Peter Island in the Nuyts Archipelago, Reevesby Island, Salutation Island, and at Arid Recovery, a fenced reserve at Roxby Downs in South Australia. [17]

The longterm success of a series of translocations to the fenced Mount Gibson Sanctuary in Western Australia is as yet undetermined, [6] while reintroduction attempts began at a fenced landscape within NSW's Mallee Cliffs National Park in September 2020. [18] The species was reintroduced to Dirk Hartog Island in May 2021, with early monitoring suggesting ongoing survival. [19] [20] [21]

Only 40 per cent of reintroduction attempts for the species have been considered successful. [22] 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 in NSW. [6] Most failures were blamed on inadequate habitat or release protocols, or excessive predation. [6]

The species is scheduled be translocated to a fenced landscape in NSW's Sturt National Park. [23]

It is currently being bred in captivity at Monarto Safari Park and Adelaide Zoo, with progeny provided to reintroduction projects. [24] 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. [25]

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, gerbil-like 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 are 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">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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brush-tailed rabbit rat</span> Species of rodent

The brush-tailed rabbit rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

<i>Leporillus</i> Genus of rodents

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

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary</span> Protected area in Australian Capital Territory

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<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

  1. ↑ Woinarski, J.; Burbidge, A.A. (2016). "Leporillus conditor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T11634A22457522. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T11634A22457522.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. 1 2 Sturt, C. (1848). Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia (transcript). Vol. 1. London: T & W Boone. p. 120.
  4. ↑ "Stick-nest rat, house building rat (Leporillus conditor) / Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service". Trove. 18 October 2020.
  5. ↑ "Greater Stick-nest Rat - profile | NSW Environment, Energy and Science". www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Short, Jeff; Copley, Peter; Ruykys, Laura; Morris, Keith; Read, John; Moseby, Katherine (8 October 2019). "Review of translocations of the greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor): lessons learnt to facilitate ongoing recovery". Wildlife Research. 46 (6): 455–475. doi:10.1071/WR19021. ISSN   1448-5494. S2CID   203389727.
  7. 1 2 Musser, G.G.; Carleton, M.D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Menkhorst, P.W.; Knight, F. (2011). A field guide to the mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 208. ISBN   9780195573954.
  9. ↑ Onley, Isabelle. "Meet the territorial females and matriarchs in Australia's backyard". The Conversation. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  10. ↑ "Our Curious Animals". Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954). 24 January 1935. p. 64. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "A RAT-HOUSE". World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955). 19 July 1952. p. 30. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  12. 1 2 "JERBOA RAT". Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954). 3 March 1934. p. 21. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  13. ↑ "The Action Plan for Australian Rodents". Department of the Environment. 1 April 1995. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Ellis, M. (1995). A discussion of the large extinct rodents of Mootwingee National Park, western New South Wales. Australian Zoologist. 30:1-4.
  15. ↑ Josephine Flood (2004) Archaeology of the Dreamtime, J.B Publishing, Marleston p. 206 ISBN   1-876622-50-4
  16. ↑ Abbott, I. (December 2006). "Mammalian faunal collapse in Western Australia, 1875-1925: the hypothesised role of epizootic disease and a conceptual model of its origin, introduction, transmission, and spread". Australian Zoologist. 33 (4): 530–561. doi:10.7882/az.2006.024. ISSN   0067-2238.
  17. ↑ "Greater stick-nest rat - Leporillus conditor - ARKive". Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  18. ↑ "Stick-nest building mammal back in the Mallee". AWC - Australian Wildlife Conservancy. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  19. ↑ Parks and Wildlife Service, Western Australia - Greater stick-nest rats released onto Dirk Hartog Island | Facebook , retrieved 2 September 2021
  20. ↑ "Ground-breaking return of native rodents to Dirk Hartog Island". 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  21. ↑ Cowen, Saul; Rayner, Kelly; Sims, Colleen; (1 July 2021). Dirk Hartog Island National Park Ecological Restoration Project : Stage Two–Year Three Translocation and Monitoring Report
  22. ↑ Onley, I. R.; White, L. C.; Moseby, K. E.; Copley, P.; Cowen, S. (18 August 2022). "Disproportionate admixture improves reintroduction outcomes despite the use of low‐diversity source populations: population viability analysis for a translocation of the greater stick‐nest rat". Animal Conservation. 26 (2): 216–227. doi: 10.1111/acv.12812 . ISSN   1367-9430. S2CID   251685412.
  23. ↑ "Reintroducing locally extinct mammals to Sturt National Park | Centre for Ecosystem Science". www.ecosystem.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  24. ↑ "Fluffy stick-nest rats born at Monarto Safari Park as part of conservation program". Monarto Safari Park. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  25. ↑ Tulk, Melissa L.; Stannard, Hayley J.; Old, Julie M. (2 September 2016). "Haematology and serum biochemistry in captive Australian native murids: black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii) and greater stick-nest rat (Leporillus conditor)". SpringerPlus. 5 (1): 1479. doi: 10.1186/s40064-016-3111-7 . ISSN   2193-1801. PMC   5010547 . PMID   27652053.
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