| Little Native Mouse | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Pseudomys |
| Species: | P. delicatulus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudomys delicatulus (Gould, 1842) |
|
The Little Native Mouse (Pseudomys delicatulus) also known as the Delicate Mouse is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Papua New Guinea.
Contents |
The Little Native Mouse has fur that is yellow-brown to grey-brown above and white underneath.[2] It is the smallest of all Australian native mice with a head and body length of 55–75 mm with adults of both sexes being roughly the same in size, weight (6-15 g) and colour.[3] In Arnhem Land, the only place the species has been studied at length, breeding takes place in July and August. Two to four young are born in a grass-lined nesting chamber after a gestation of 28–31 days. At birth the eyes are shut and the ears tightly folded back, they develop quickly and are independent of the mother around 4 weeks of age.[4]
The species is found in sandy, well drained, sparsely covered savanna.[1] The animal lives in hollow logs, under pieces of bark, or in burrows, the design of which varies with local conditions: in hard granite sand ridges the burrow is shallow, intricately constructed retreats with many false passages and one main nesting chamber; in sandy conditions the burrows are deep simple structures around 2 meters long and with only one main chamber. It occasionally excavates burrows in termite mounds.[2]
Grass seeds from native grasses comprise most of their diet.