Pilliga mouse
| Pilliga mouse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Pseudomys |
| Species: | P. pilligaensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Pseudomys pilligaensis Fox & Briscoe, 1980 | |
The Pilliga mouse (Pseudomys pilligaensis) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Pilliga forest region of New South Wales, Australia.[1][2]
Description
P. pilligaensis is a small brown mouse with grey-brown upper parts, the head and back greyer, grading through russet flanks to white underparts. The feet are pale pink on top with white hairs. The head–body length is 73–80 mm and the tail about the same length or slightly less. The tail is pale pink with a distinct brown line along the top and a small tuft of darker hairs on the end. The ear length is 15–18 mm and the weight of the animal is 10–14 g.[3]
Taxonomy
The Pilliga mouse was first described in 1980 by Barry Fox and David Briscoe. They distinguished it from the similar species P. novohollandiae, P. delicatulus and P. hermannsburgensis on the basis of characters such as skull size and shape and the ratio between tail and head/body length.[4]
Distribution and habitat
P. pilligaensis has a restricted distribution in the Pilliga forest in central New South Wales. It has been collected from only four sites within the Pilliga "scrub", none more than 50 km apart. Two of the capture site were in Cypress–Eucalypt forest and the others in woodland.[4]
References
- ↑ "Pilliga mouse". Basin Kids Encyclopedia. Murray Darling Basin Commission.
- ↑ Menkhorst, P. and Ellis, M. (2008). Pseudomys pilligaensis. In: IUCN (2008). 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- ↑ Menkhorst, Peter; Knight, Frank (2001). A field guide to the mammals of Australia. South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. pp. 194–195. ISBN 019550870X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fox, Barry; Briscoe, David (May 1980). "Pseudomys pilligaensis: A new species of murid rodent from the Pilliga scrub, northern New South Wales". Australian mammology: Journal of the Australian mammal society 3: 109–126.
Other sources
- Baillie, J. (1996). "Pseudomys pilligaensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 19 July 2007.
- Musser, G. G.; Carleton, M. D. (2005). "Superfamily Muroidea". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 894–1531. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.