Pseudomys
From Freepedia
| Pseudomys Fossil Range: Pliocene - Recent | ||||||||||||||||||
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Pseudomys is a genus of rodent that contains a wide variety of mice native to Australia and New Guinea. They are among the few terrestrial placental mammals that colonised Australia without human intervention.
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Natural History
This genus contains a number of species with different habits making generalisation difficult. The overall body size varies widely, ranging from 60-160mm. The tail is 60-180mm and the weight is recorded from 12-90g. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats from rainforests to plains and grasslands. The animals are nocturnal and spend the day in burrows. Food also varies with some species eating seeds, roots and insects while others feed primarily on grasses. Several species of Pseudomys are threatened due to competition with introduced species and habitat destruction. Several others are probably extinct.
Etymology
The name Pseudomys means "false mouse" presumably in reference to both its similarity and uniqueness from "true mice" in the genus Mus.
Species
- Genus Pseudomys
- Pseudomys albocinereus
- Pseudomys apodemoides
- Pseudomys australis
- Pseudomys bolami
- Pseudomys chapmani
- Pseudomys delicatulus
- Pseudomys desertor
- Pseudomys fieldi
- Pseudomys fumeus
- Pseudomys glaucus
- Pseudomys gouldii
- Pseudomys gracilicaudatus
- Pseudomys hermannsburgensis
- Pseudomys higginsi
- Pseudomys johnsoni
- Pseudomys laborifex
- Pseudomys nanus
- Pseudomys novaehollandiae
- Pseudomys occidentalis
- Pseudomys oralis
- Pseudomys patrius
- Pseudomys pilligaensis
- Pseudomys praeconis
- Pseudomys shortridgei
References
- Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World, Vol. 2. Johns Hopkins University Press, London.
