Broad-toothed Mouse

Broad-toothed Mouse
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Genus: Mastacomys
Thomas, 1882
Species: M. fuscus
Binomial name
Mastacomys fuscus
Thomas, 1882

The Broad-toothed Mouse (Mastacomys fuscus) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.

Distribution and habitat

It is found only in South-eastern Australia. In Victoria live specimens were caught in the Snowfields, Great Dividing Range to Barrington Tops in New South Wales,[2] Gippsland Highlands, Otway Rangers and Wilsons Promontory. Specimens located in scats have been found in the Otway plains and East Gippsland.[3] The species is also recorded in buttongrass sedgeland up to 1000 metres in western Tasmania.[4] Habitat preferences are areas of herbfields, grasslands and forests where there is minimal shrubage but a dense covering of sedge, grass, herbs and moss, where precipitation does not fall below 1400 mm per year in alpine areas and 1000 mm at lower altitudes (DCNR 1995 pp. 208–210).

References

  1. ^ Menkhorst, P., Denny, M., Ellis, M., Driessen, M., Broome, L. & Dickman, C. (2008). Mastacomys fuscus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 October 2008.
  2. ^ Menkhorst, P.; Knight, F. (2001). A field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford Press. ISBN 0-19-550870-X.
  3. ^ Department of Conservation and Natural Resources edited by Menkhorst, P,W 1995 "Mammals of Victoria" Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, ISBN 0-19-553733-5
  4. ^ Menkhorst and Knight, 2001 p. 198