Jerboas are hopping desert rodents found throughout North Africa and Asia, and are members of the family Dipodidae. They tend to live in hot deserts.
A hopping mouse is any of about ten different Australian native mice in the genus Notomys. They are rodents, not marsupials, and their ancestors are thought to have arrived from Asia about 5 million years ago.
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.
Kangaroo rats, small mostly nocturnal rodents of genus Dipodomys, are native to arid areas of western North America. The common name derives from their bipedal form. They hop in a manner similar to the much larger kangaroo, but developed this mode of locomotion independently, like several other clades of rodents.
The big-eared hopping mouse is an extinct species of mouse, which lived in the Moore River area of south-western Australia. The big-eared hopping mouse was a small, rat-sized animal resembling a tiny kangaroo. It had large eyes and ears with a brush-tipped tail. It moved on its four legs when traveling at a slower pace, or by bounding upon its enlarged, padded, hind feet when traveling quickly. They mainly lived in sand dunes and made nests of leaves and other organic materials. The big-eared hopping-mouse was last collected in July 1843 near the Moore River, Western Australia, close to where New Norcia is now situated, and has not been seen since.
The kultarr is a small insectivorous nocturnal marsupial inhabiting the arid interior of Australia. Preferred habitat includes stony deserts, shrubland, woodland, grassland and open plains. The kultarr has a range of adaptations to help cope with Australia's harsh arid environment including torpor similar to hibernation that helps conserve energy. The species has declined across its former range since European settlement due to changes in land management practices and introduced predators.
Mitchell's hopping mouse also known as the pankot, is the largest extant member of the genus Notomys, weighing between 40 and 60 g. N. mitchellii is a bipedal rodent with large back legs, similar to a jerboa or kangaroo rat. The species occurs throughout much of semi-arid Southern Australia, and appears to be particularly common on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. Typical habitat for N. mitchellii appears to be mallee shrublands on sandy dune systems. The species is currently considered to be unthreatened, but its range has been reduced through habitat disturbance and destruction associated with European settlement in Australia.
Tyzzer's disease is an acute epizootic bacterial disease found in rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, pandas, deer, foals, cattle, and other mammals including gerbils and spinifex hopping-mice. It is caused by the spore-forming bacterium Clostridium piliforme, formerly known as Bacillus piliformis. It is an infectious disease characterized by necrotic lesions on the liver, is usually fatal, and is present worldwide. Animals with the disease become infected through oral ingestion of the bacterial spores and usually die within a matter of days. Animals most commonly affected include young, stressed animals in laboratory environments, such as immature rodents and rabbits. Most commonly affected wild animals include muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) and occasionally cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.). Even today, much remains unknown about Tyzzer's disease, including how and why it occurs.
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 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 northern hopping mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in coastal northern Australia, from Arnhem Land to the Cobourg Peninsula.
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 Darling Downs hopping mouse is an extinct species of mammal in the family Muridae. It is known from a single skull found at Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. Introduced predators such as foxes and domestic cats may have forced this species into extinction. The skull is identified as one of the Notomys, the hopping mice, an Australian genus that has been subject to rapid declines in populations leading to local and species extinction.
The desert mouse, also known as the brown desert mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Australia. The first desert mouse specimen was collected by Australian zoologist Gerard Krefft on the Blandowski Expedition in 1856-57, between Gol Gol Creek and the Darling River.
The sandy inland mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. Also known as the Hermannsburg (Mission) false-mouse or Hermannsburg mouse, it is endemic to Australia and found widely yet sparsely through arid and semi-arid areas.
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 San Diego pocket mouse is a rodent species in the family Heteromyidae. It occupies the northern region of Baja California near San Diego extending into Mexico.
The fawn hopping mouse is a rodent native to the central Australian desert. Like all hopping mice it has strong front teeth, a long tail, dark eyes, big ears, well-developed haunches and very long, narrow hind feet. It weighs between 30 and 50 g.
The southern sandslider is a species of skink or Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia and widespread across the continent, being most commonly found within sandy termite mounds. This is where they take safe refuge from the harsh Australian climate and various ground predators.
