Musky rat-kangaroo

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Musky rat-kangaroo [1]
Musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) Atherton.jpg
Atherton Tableland, Queensland
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Hypsiprymnodontidae
Genus: Hypsiprymnodon
Species:
H. moschatus
Binomial name
Hypsiprymnodon moschatus
Ramsay, 1876 [3]
Musky Rat Kangaroo area.png
Musky rat-kangaroo range
Musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) Atherton 2.jpg

The musky rat-kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus) is a small marsupial found only in the rainforests of northeastern Australia. First described in the later 19th century, the only other species are known from fossil specimens. They are similar in appearance to potoroos and bettongs, but are not as closely related. Their omnivorous diet is known to include materials such as fruit and fungi, as well as small animals such as insects and other invertebrates.

Contents

Taxonomy

The description of this species, assigned to a new genus Hypsiprymnodon , was published in 1876 by Edward Pierson Ramsay, a curator at the Australian Museum. [3] The syntypes are part of the museum's collection, mounted specimens of a male and female collected at Rockingham Bay, Queensland. [4] Ramsay's specimens were obtained during European settlement of northeastern Australia on an expedition toward the Herbert River. [5] A description of the species was provided by Richard Owen in the year after Ramsay's publication, the name Pleopus nudicaudatus, describing the five toes of the hind foot and its scaly, naked tail, is now regarded as a synonym. [6] Ramsay had provisionally assigned the species to the genus Hypsiprymnus , but in his review of the dentition he proposed to separate them to a new genus. [3] Hypsiprymnodon moschatus has been placed with the subfamily Hypsiprymnodontinae of the family Potoroidae, the most recent classification places it in the family Hypsiprymnodontidae with prehistoric taxa.

The specific epithet is derived from Latin term moschatus, meaning musky. [7] The description as a new species of 'rat-kangaroo' was the last of the 19th century, bringing the total to nine species, and no other new species would be formally described for another 90 years. [5]

Description

Hypsiprymnodon moschatus is the smallest species of the macropod order, weighing around 500 grams (18 oz). The total length of the head and body is 155 to 270 millimetres (6.1 to 10.6 in), the weight range 360 to 680 grams (13 to 24 oz). [8] Sexual dimorphism is not readily apparent in this species, although the females may be slightly larger. [9] They have a long black tail, measuring from 125 to 160 mm (4.9 to 6.3 in). The appearance of the tail is scaly, rather than hairy, and proportionally shorter than the length of the head and body. [8] Their ears are also nearly hairless and appear leathery. [10] The pelage is a uniform, deep and rich brown colour with reddish highlights over most of the body, the head and lower parts are somewhat greyish. [8] The dark and chocolatey colour of the fur distinguish them from the other living 'rat-kangaroos'. A steel grey colour at the head grades into the rich brown of the body. [10] The feet of H. moschatus are blackish and, uniquely among the macropods, have five toes at the hind foot. A band of white, variously slight to distinct, appears from the belly toward the throat. The animal emits a noticeable musky odour. [8]

Dentition of the species resembles that of the extant potoroids, but for that family's incisor formula of I3/1. The dental formula of H. moschatus is I3/2 C1/0 PM1/1 M4/4. Two premolars found in juveniles are replaced at maturity when a single sectorial premolar erupts. The sequence of emerging molars and premolars allows the age of the individual to be determined. Hypsiprymnodon moschatus have a fine and delicate skull structure with a rostrum that is narrow and elongate. A long nasal bone structure and distance between the canine and premolar teeth is large. [11]

Distribution and habitat

The species only occurs in the northeastern part of the continent. They may be locally common in remaining areas of extensive rainforest and can occur at high and low elevations. The distribution range extends from west of Ingham, Queensland at Mt. Lee to Mt. Amos south of Cooktown. They are found in low altitude rainforests, such as Cape Tribulation and Mission Beach, and within the montane habitat of the Carbine, Atherton and Windsor tableland regions. [8] The population density of H. moschatus is from 1.40 to 4.50 animals per hectare. [12]

Behaviour

A usually solitary animal that is only active during the day, distinguishing them from the nocturnal habits of the rat-kangaroos in the Potoroidae family. They are most active in the morning and afternoon, retiring to their shelter during the middle of the day. [13] They are mostly terrestrial, foraging at the forest floor, although they are able to move through the branches of the lower vegetation.

A nest is roughly constructed at a site where the animal shelters while sleeping. [8] Observations of the behaviour within its dense habitat presented difficulties to early field work, however, the use of a thread, lightly glued to the animal and fed from a spool, allowed the activity and range of males and females to be more accurately evaluated. The individual ranges overlap in both their foraging and nest site. Males may venture out in a range from 0.8 to 4.2 hectares, while females are recorded foraging over a smaller sized area of up to 2.2 ha. Although they are usually solitary in the activities, several may gather to feed at fallen fruit.

Their omnivorous diet comprises fruits and fungi along with some insects and other invertebrates, found among the leaf litter and lower storey of the rainforest. [8] The composition of the diet has been described as omnivorous, perhaps with reduced capacity for the carnivory of some fossil species of propleonines, but other records suggest the diet is largely frugivorous. [14]

Aggressive behaviours between males may be displayed during the austral spring and summer months, vigorously pursuing each other for around 30 seconds. The male's encounters, sometimes in competition for fruit, increase in frequency during breeding months; physical interactions between the males are restricted to striking with the front paw. [15] Reproductive activity is mostly from October to April, the usual litter size is two offspring. The newborns travel in the pouch of the mother for about 21 weeks, and then are left at the nest while the mother forages until the juveniles are fully weaned. [8] The earliest records note that the animal was elusive and discreet in its nature, and that specimens were difficult to obtain. [3]

Regular activity is conducted on all four limbs, but unlike the bettongs and potoroos, the musky rat-kangaroo bounds using all its paws when moving rapidly. This resembles the characteristic hopping of a rabbit more than that of its macropod relations. [10] It moves by extending its body and then bringing both of its hind legs forward, and uses an opposable toe on the hind foot to climb trees. [16]

Ecology

A number of parasitic species are presumed to be associated with H. moschatus, including internal organisms such as roundworm and tapeworm species and ectoparasites such as ticks, mites, lice and fleas; the identified species of mites (Acari) are those of genera Mesolaelaps and Trichosurolaelaps . [17]

Musky rat-kangaroos have been protected from many of the threatening factors that greatly reduced the potoroine species, and their rainforest habitat has in part remain secluded and conserved. The species remains vulnerable to fragmentation of the population by land clearing, which disrupts the ability to recolonise and increases genetic isolation, Their role in seed dispersal within their range is likewise important to the ecology of their tropical rainforest habitat. [18] By carrying a fleshy fruit away to be consumed, or pressing them into earth as a cache, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus gives advantage to the plant's potential for recruitment. This interaction between plants and mammal has been compared to those on other continents, such as the squirrels and agoutis, and posited as an example of convergent evolution. [19]

The lack of size difference in the sexes corresponds to a limited home range for males, the inability to range beyond the female also allows greater attention to sexual competitors. [9] The high level of overlaps in range of a local populous allows high population densities. [20]

Systematics

After the first description of the species, the musky rat-kangaroo was allied to various familial relationships. Later revisions have strongly indicated deep divergence from the extant potoroid marsupials, Bettongia and Potorous, and separated at the family level as Hypsiprymnodontidae. The discovery of fossil specimens has revealed a more widespread and diverse lineage in Miocene Australia. The placement may be summarised as,

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diprotodontia</span> Order of marsupial mammals

Diprotodontia is the largest extant order of marsupials, with about 155 species, including the kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koala, wombats, and many others. Extinct diprotodonts include the hippopotamus-sized Diprotodon, and Thylacoleo, the so-called "marsupial lion".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad-faced potoroo</span> Extinct species of marsupial

The broad-faced potoroo is an extinct potoroid marsupial that was found in southwestern Australia. The first specimen was collected in 1839, and described by John Gould in 1844. Only a small number of specimens have been collected since. The last live capture was in 1875. Subfossil remains indicate that it had an extensive distribution around the semiarid coastal districts of Southwest Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potoroidae</span> Family of marsupials

Potoroidae is a family of marsupials, small Australian animals known as bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. All are rabbit-sized, brown, jumping marsupials and resemble a large rodent or a very small wallaby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypsiprymnodontidae</span> Family of marsupials

The Hypsiprymnodontidae are a family of macropods, one of two families containing animals commonly referred to as rat-kangaroos. The single known extant genus and species in this family, the musky rat-kangaroo, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, occurs in northern Australia. During the Pleistocene, this family included the megafauna genus Propleopus.

<i>Hypsiprymnodon</i> Genus of marsupials

Hypsiprymnodon is a genus of macropods. The sole extant species is Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, the musky rat-kangaroo. The genus includes four known fossil species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-nosed potoroo</span> Species of marsupial

The long-nosed potoroo is a small, hopping mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the potoroo and bettong family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night for fungi, roots, or small insects. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. The long-nosed potoroo is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species such as cats or foxes. There are two subspecies: P. t. tridactylus on mainland Australia, and P. t. apicalis on Tasmania, with lighter fur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert's potoroo</span> Species of marsupial

Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a small nocturnal macropod that lives in small groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potoroo</span> Genus of marsupials

Potoroo is a common name for species of Potorous, a genus of smaller marsupials. They are allied to the Macropodiformes, the suborder of kangaroo, wallaby, and other rat-kangaroo genera. All three extant species are threatened by ecological changes since the colonisation of Australia, especially the long-footed potoroo Potorous longipes (endangered) and P. gilbertii. The broad-faced potoroo P. platyops disappeared after its first description in the 19th century. The main threats are predation by introduced species and habitat loss.

<i>Ekaltadeta</i> Extinct genus of marsupials

Ekaltadeta is an extinct genus of marsupials related to the modern musky rat-kangaroos. Ekaltadeta was present in what is today the Riversleigh formations in Northern Queensland from the Late Oligocene to the Miocene, and the genus includes three species. The genus is hypothesized to have been either exclusively carnivorous, or omnivorous with a fondness for meat, based on the chewing teeth found in fossils. This conclusion is based mainly on the size and shape of a large buzz-saw-shaped cheek-tooth, the adult third premolar, which is common to all Ekaltadeta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macropodiformes</span> Suborder of marsupials

The Macropodiformes, also known as macropods, are one of the three suborders of the large marsupial order Diprotodontia. They may in fact be nested within one of the suborders, Phalangeriformes. Kangaroos, wallabies and allies, bettongs, potoroos and rat kangaroos are all members of this suborder.

<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.

The long-footed potoroo is a small marsupial found in southeastern Australia, restricted to an area around the coastal border between New South Wales and Victoria. It was first recorded in 1967 when an adult male was caught in a dog trap in the forest southwest of Bonang, Victoria. It is classified as vulnerable.

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

The rufous rat-kangaroo or rufous bettong is a small, jumping, rat-like marsupial native to eastern Australia. It is the only species in the genus Aepyprymnus. The largest member of the potoroo/bettong family (Potoroidae), it is about the size of a rabbit. The rufous rat-kangaroo is active at night when it digs for plant roots and fungi, and like other marsupials it carries its young in a pouch. Though its range is reduced, the population is healthy and stable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bettong</span> Genus of marsupials

Bettongs, species of the genus Bettongia, are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecosystem engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat.

Mesolaelaps is a genus of mites in the family Laelapidae. The small macropod species Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, the musky rat kangaroo, is recorded as a to host species of this mite.

Trichosurolaelaps is a genus of mites in the family Hirstionyssidae. The small macropod species Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, the musky rat kangaroo, is recorded as a host to species of this mite.

The Macropodidae are an extant family of marsupial with the distinction of the ability to move bipedally on the hind legs, sometimes by jumping, as well as quadrupedally. They are herbivores, but some fossil genera like Ekaltadeta are hypothesised to have been carnivores. The taxonomic affiliations within the family and with other groups of marsupials is still in flux.

Hypsiprymnodon karenblackae is a fossil species describing a small marsupial extant in Australia during the Early to Middle Miocene Epoch. The material was collected at the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh). The taxon was published in 2014, along with several other new species of the genus Hypsiprymnodon, known as musky rat-kangaroos. The morphology of the teeth suggest it existed in a wet rainforest environment, similar to the ecological conditions of the extant species, the musky rat-kangaroo. The type specimen was collected at the Camel Sputum site, classified as a Faunal Zone B (Miocene) deposit at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland, The epithet is for Dr. Karen Black's contribution to palaeontology in Australia, especially the Riversleigh fossils.

Bulungamayinae is an extinct subfamily that allies fossil species of marsupials, showing close morphological features found in the modern potoroines, the bettongs and potoroos of Australia.

Palaeopotorous priscus is a fossil species of a diprotodont marsupial, known from specimens obtained in central Australia. The animal was similar to the modern species of the family Potoroidae, the potoroos and bettongs.

References

  1. ↑ Groves, C. P. (2005). "Order Diprotodontia". 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. 43–70. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. ↑ Burnett, S.; Winter, J.; Martin, R. (2016). "Hypsiprymnodon moschatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T40559A21963734. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T40559A21963734.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ramsay, E.P. (1875). "Description of a new genus and species of rat kangaroo, allied to the genus Hypsiprymnus, proposed to be called 'Hypsiprymnodon moschatus". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 1: 33–35. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.12382.
  4. ↑ "Species Hypsiprymnodon moschatus Ramsay, 1876". Australian Faunal Directory . Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  5. 1 2 Claridge 2007, p. 5–6.
  6. ↑ Owen, R. (1877). "On a new marsupial from Australia". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology. 4. 20 (120): 542. doi:10.1080/00222937708682281.
  7. ↑ Strahan, R.; Cayley, N. (1987). What mammal is that? . North Ryde: Cornstalk. pp.  118. ISBN   0207153256.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Menkhorst, P.W.; Knight, F. (2011). A field guide to the mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 110. ISBN   9780195573954.
  9. 1 2 Claridge 2007, p. 99.
  10. 1 2 3 Claridge 2007, p. 29.
  11. ↑ Claridge 2007, pp. 30, 31.
  12. ↑ Claridge 2007, p. 71.
  13. ↑ Claridge 2007, p. 66.
  14. ↑ Wroe, Stephen; Brammall, Jenni; et al. (1998). "The Skull of Ekaltadeta ima (Marsupialia, Hypsiprymnodontidae?): An Analysis of Some Marsupial Cranial Features and a Re-Investigation of Propleopine Phylogeny, with Notes on the Inference of Carnivory in Mammals". Journal of Paleontology. 72 (4): 738–751. Bibcode:1998JPal...72..738W. doi:10.1017/S0022336000040439. ISSN   0022-3360. JSTOR   1306699. S2CID   86359996.
  15. ↑ Claridge 2007, pp. 81, 101.
  16. ↑ McKay, G. (Ed.). (1999). Mammals (p. 60). San Francisco: Weldon Owen Inc. ISBN   1-875137-59-9
  17. ↑ Claridge 2007, p. 35.
  18. ↑ Claridge 2007, p. 161.
  19. ↑ Dennis, A.J. (2003). "Scatter-hoarding by musky rat-kangaroos, Hypsiprymnodon moschatus, a tropical rain-forest marsupial from Australia: implications for seed dispersal". Journal of Tropical Ecology. 19 (6): 619–627. doi:10.1017/S0266467403006023. ISSN   1469-7831. S2CID   85090564.
  20. ↑ Claridge 2007, p. 80.
  21. ↑ Bates, H.; Travouillon, K.J.; et al. (2014). "Three new Miocene species of musky rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea): description, phylogenetics and paleoecology" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (2): 383–396. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34..383B. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.812098. S2CID   86139768.

Sources

  • Claridge, A.W.; Seebeck, J.H.; et al. (2007). Bettongs, potoroos, and the musky rat-kangaroo. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Pub. ISBN   9780643093416.
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