New Holland mouse
| New Holland mouse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Pseudomys |
| Species: | P. novaehollandiae |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudomys novaehollandiae (Waterhouse, 1843) | |
The New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was first described by George Waterhouse in 1843. It vanished from view for over a century before its rediscovery in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park north of Sydney in 1967. It is found only in Australia, within the states of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania.[1]
Victorian populations
The first living animals were recorded in the state of Victoria in 1970 on the Mornington Peninsula.[2] The New Holland mouse has since been discovered in Victoria at a number of near coastal locations, mostly to the east of Melbourne, including Cranbourne, Langwarrin, Yanakie Isthmus, the south-western end of the Ninety Mile Beach and a number of sites near Loch Sport, Mullundung State Forest and Providence Ponds. A number of these populations are now thought to be extinct.[2]
One known population occurs to the west of Melbourne, in the eastern Otway Ranges near Anglesea. The Anglesea population, discovered in 1980, comprises a number of sub-populations which were intensively studied by Deakin University researchers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Some of the Anglesea sub-populations went extinct after the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires.[3] Others have persisted until at least the mid-1990s.[4] The current status of the Angelsea sub-populations is uncertain, but they may be now locally extinct.
Conservation status
The New Holland mouse is listed as a threatened (vulnerable) species on the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.[5]
It is listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. An Action Statement has also been prepared for the New Holland mouse under this Act.[6]
It is listed as endangered in Victoria on the Department of Sustainability and Environment 2003 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna.[7]
References
- ↑ Menkhorst, P., Dickman, C., Denny, M., Aplin, K., Lunney, D. and Ellis, M. (2008). Pseudomys novaehollandiae. In: IUCN (2008). 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Menkhorst, P. (1995). Mammals of Victoria. Distribution, Ecology and Conservation. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
- ↑ Wilson, B. A. (1994). "The distribution of the New Holland Mouse Pseudomys novaehollandiae (Waterhouse 1843) in the Eastern Otways, Victoria". The Victorian Naturalist 112 (2): 46–53.
- ↑ Lock, M. L. and Wilson, B. A. (1996). "The distribution of the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae) with respect to vegetation near Anglesea, Victoria". Wildlife Research 26 (4): 565–577. doi:10.1071/WR97050.
- ↑ http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna
- ↑ Seebeck, J. A., Menkhorst, P. W., Wilson, B. A. and Lowe, K.W. (1996). New Holland Mouse Pseudomys novaehollandiae. Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act Action Statement #74.. East Melbourne, Victoria: State of Victoria.
- ↑ Department of Sustainability and Environment (2003). Advisory list of the threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria – 2003. Melbourne: State of Victoria.
External links
- Baillie, J. 1996. Pseudomys novaehollandiae. 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 23 September 2011.
- Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
- Wilson, B. A. 1991, ‘The Ecology of Pseudomys novaehollandiae (Waterhouse, 1843) in the Eastern Otway Ranges, Victoria.’ Wildlife Research. 18:233–247.
- Wilson, B. A., Bourne, A. R. and Jessop, R. E. 1986, ‘Ecology of Small Mammals in a Coastal Heathland at Anglesea, Victoria.’ Australian Wildlife Research. 13:397–406.