| Ixodes heathi | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Ixodida |
| Family: | Ixodidae |
| Genus: | Ixodes |
| Species: | I. heathi |
| Binomial name | |
| Ixodes heathi Kwak, 2018 | |
Heath's tick (Ixodes heathi) is a critically endangered invertebrate native to the Australian alps. It has a close symbiotic relationship with the mountain pygmy possum, and is believed to depend on this species for its survival.
Heath’s tick is named after the New Zealand parasitologist Allen C.G. Heath. [1]
The ecology of Heath’s tick is poorly known. However, it has been suggested that this species may be a nest dwelling species which utilises the dens of the mountain pygmy possum to avoid the freezing winters of the Australian alps. Heath’s tick, and its closest relatives Ixodes riscicollaris and Ixodes goliath all occupy habitats with relictual cool, wet Gondwanan climates at high altitudes. [2]
The mountain pygmy possum relies on the fruits of the mountain plum-pine ( Podocarpus lawrencei ) as a seasonal food source. [3] However, feral horses and deer have caused this plant to decline due to over-grazing. [4] The decline of the mountain pygmy possum, due to decline of the mountain plum-pine, could cause Heath’s tick to become extinct, an example of a trophic cascade. [1] The fragmentation of populations of mountain pygmy possums and Heath’s ticks may result in inbreeding and stochastic events (such as fires) resulting on localised extinction of individual populations. [5] At present Heath’s tick is known from the Australian state of Victoria where it has only been collected on Mt. Higginbotham (the type locality) and on Mt. Loch. [2]
Phalangeriformes is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi. The species are commonly known as possums, gliders, and cuscus. The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas. However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos.
Freycinet National Park is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island. Founded in 1916, it is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park. Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the largest nearby town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay. Features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".
The Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is a national park that is located in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. The 21,650-hectare (53,500-acre) national park is situated approximately 275 kilometres (171 mi) northeast of Melbourne, and extends west from Beechworth across the Hume Freeway and the Albury-Melbourne railway line to the west of Chiltern.
The monito del monte or colocolo opossum, Dromiciops gliroides, also called chumaihuén in Mapudungun, is a diminutive marsupial native only to southwestern South America. It is the only extant species in the ancient order Microbiotheria, and the sole New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia. The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of South American mountain bamboo in the Valdivian temperate rain forests of the southern Andes, aided by its partially prehensile tail. It eats primarily insects and other small invertebrates, supplemented with fruit.
The mountain pygmy possum ; also simply known as the Burramys, is a small, mouse-sized nocturnal marsupial of Australia found in dense alpine rock screes and boulder fields, mainly southern Victoria and around Mount Kosciuszko in Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales at elevations from 1,300 to 2,230 metres. At almost 14 cm (5.5 in), its prehensile tail is longer than its 11 cm (4.3 in) combined head and body length. Its diet consists of insects, fleshy fruits, nuts, nectar and seeds. Its body is covered in a thick coat of fine grey fur except for its stomach, which is cream coloured; its tail is hairless. On the underside of the female's body is a pouch containing four teats. This possum is the only extant species in the genus Burramys. It is also the only Australian mammal restricted to alpine habitat.
The Australian Alps montane grasslands is a montane grassland ecoregion of south-eastern Australia, restricted to the montane regions above 1300 metres .
The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion, and is the highest mountain range in Australia. The range straddles the borders of eastern Victoria, southeastern New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory. It contains Australia's only peaks exceeding 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in elevation, and is the only bioregion on the Australian mainland in which deep snow falls annually. The range comprises an area of 1,232,981 ha.
The bogong moth is a temperate species of night-flying moth, notable for its biannual long-distance seasonal migrations towards and from the Australian Alps, similar to the diurnal monarch butterfly. During the autumn and winter it is found in southern Queensland, western New South Wales, western Victoria, and also in South and Western Australia. Adult bogong moths breed and larvae hatch during this period, consuming winter pasture plants during their growth. During the spring, the moths migrate south or east and reside in mountains such as Mount Bogong, where they gregariously aestivate over the summer until their return towards breeding grounds again in the autumn.
The Victorian Alps, also known locally as the High Country, is a large mountain system in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. Occupying the majority of eastern Victoria, it is the southwestern half of the Australian Alps, the tallest portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Yarra and Dandenong Ranges, both sources of rivers and drinking waters for Melbourne, are branches of the Victorian Alps.
The pygmy possums are a family of small possums that together form the marsupial family Burramyidae. The five extant species of pygmy possum are grouped into two genera. Four of the species are endemic to Australia, with one species also co-occurring in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
The eastern pygmy possum is a diprotodont marsupial of south-eastern Australia. Occurring from southern Queensland to eastern South Australia and also Tasmania, it is found in a range of habitats, including rainforest, sclerophyll forest, woodland and heath.
The western pygmy possum, also known as the southwestern pygmy possum or the mundarda, is a small marsupial found in Australia. Genetic studies indicate its closest relative is probably the eastern pygmy possum, from which its ancestors diverged around eight million years ago.
The genus Cercartetus is a group of very small possums known as pygmy possums. Four species comprise this genus, which together with the genus Burramys make up the marsupial family Burramyidae.
Ixodes is a genus of hard-bodied ticks. It includes important disease vectors of animals and humans, and some species inject toxins that can cause paralysis. Some ticks in this genus may transmit the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi responsible for causing Lyme disease. Additional organisms that may be transmitted by Ixodes are parasites from the genus Babesia, which cause babesiosis, and bacteria from the related genus Anaplasma, which cause anaplasmosis.
Ixodes ricinus, the castor bean tick, is a chiefly European species of hard-bodied tick. It may reach a length of 11 mm (0.43 in) when engorged with a blood meal, and can transmit both bacterial and viral pathogens such as the causative agents of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis.
The Warby-Ovens National Park is a national park located on the lands of the Bangerang clan of the Yorta Yorta Nation in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia near Killawara. The 14,655-hectare (36,210-acre) national park is situated approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Wangaratta and 240 kilometres (150 mi) northeast of Melbourne.
Stephanocircus domrowi, the goblin flea, is a critically endangered insect endemic to the Australian state of Victoria. It is host specific, and lives only with the co-endangered Leadbeater's possum. Although it has been suggested as a good candidate species for conservation, there is presently no work directed towards its conservation. The key threat factor driving the decline of the Leadbeater's possum, and by extension the co-endangered goblin flea, is logging in the mountain ash forests of the Victorian central highlands. To avoid extinction, a number of conservation steps will need to be taken including amalgamating the goblin flea into the captive breeding program for its host at Healesville Sanctuary.
Ixodes anatis, also called the kiwi tick, is a species of tick in the arthropod family Ixodidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and mainly parasitizes kiwi.