Pseudomys
| Pseudomys Temporal range:Late Miocene- Recent
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| Sandy inland mouse(Pseudomys hermannsburgensis) | |
Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Tribe: | Hydromyini |
| Genus: | Pseudomys Gray,1832 |
| Type species | |
| Pseudomys australis | |
| Species | |
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Pseudomys albocinereus | |
Pseudomysis agenusofrodentthat contains a wide variety ofmicenative toAustraliaandNew Guinea.They are among the fewterrestrialplacentalmammalsthat colonised Australia withouthumanintervention.
Natural history
[edit]This genus contains a number of species with different habits making generalisation difficult. The overall body size varies widely, ranging from 60 to 160 mm. The tail is 60–180 mm and the weight is recorded from 12 to 90 g. They inhabit a wide variety ofhabitatsfromrainforeststoplainsandgrasslands.The animals arenocturnaland spend the day inburrows.Food also varies with some species eatingseeds,rootsandinsectswhile others feed primarily ongrasses.Thepebble-mound miceare unique in creating mounds of stones around their burrows. Several species ofPseudomysare threatened due to competition with introduced species andhabitat destruction.Several others are probablyextinct.
Etymology
[edit]The namePseudomysmeans "false mouse"[1]presumably in reference to both its similarity and uniqueness from "true mice" in the genusMus.
Species
[edit]GenusPseudomys- Australian native mice
- Ash-grey mouse,Pseudomys albocinereus
- Silky mouse,Pseudomys apodemoides
- Plains rat,Pseudomys australis
- Bolam's mouse,Pseudomys bolami
- Kakadu pebble-mound mouse,Pseudomys calabyi
- Western pebble-mound mouse,Pseudomys chapmani
- Little native mouse,Pseudomys delicatulus
- Desert mouse,Pseudomys desertor
- Smoky mouse,Pseudomys fumeus
- Blue-gray mouse,Pseudomys glaucus†
- Gould's mouse,Pseudomys gouldii[2]
- TheShark Bay mousewas previously described as a separate speciesPseudomys fieldi,but is now considered conspecific withP. gouldii
- Eastern chestnut mouse,Pseudomys gracilicaudatus
- Sandy inland mouse,Pseudomys hermannsburgensis
- Long-tailed mouse,Pseudomys higginsi
- Central pebble-mound mouse,Pseudomys johnsoni
- TheKimberley mousewas previously described as a separate speciesPseudomys laborifex,but is now considered conspecific withPseudomys johnsoni
- Western chestnut mouse,Pseudomys nanus
- New Holland mouse,Pseudomys novaehollandiae
- Western mouse,Pseudomys occidentalis
- Hastings River mouse,Pseudomys oralis
- Country mouse,Pseudomys patrius
- Pilliga mouse,Pseudomys pilligaensis
- Heath mouse,Pseudomys shortridgei
- Pseudomys vandycki† (Late Pliocene of Australia)
References
[edit]- ^Long, J.A.; Archer, M. (2002).Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution.UNSW Press. p. 198.ISBN9780868404356.
- ^Roycroft, Emily; MacDonald, Anna J.; Moritz, Craig; Moussalli, Adnan; Miguez, Roberto Portela; Rowe, Kevin C. (2021-07-06)."Museum genomics reveals the rapid decline and extinction of Australian rodents since European settlement".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.118(27): e2021390118.doi:10.1073/pnas.2021390118.ISSN0027-8424.PMC8271571.PMID34183409.
- Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531inMammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Nowak, R. M. 1999.Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2.Johns Hopkins University Press, London.
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