Blue-gray mouse
Blue-gray mouse refers to an Australian rodent, Pseudomys glaucus, that is only known by a few specimens found in Eastern Australia and since presumed to have become extinct.
Blue-grey mouse | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Muridae |
Genus: | Pseudomys |
Species: | †P. glaucus |
Binomial name | |
†Pseudomys glaucus Thomas, 1910 | |
Taxonomy
The species was described by Oldfield Thomas in 1910.[2] The number of specimens identified as Pseudomys glaucus is limited to three, two found in the northeastern state of Queensland and a single specimen collected to the south at Cryon in New South Wales.
Description
A species of Pseudomys, Australian rodents that resemble the familiar house mouse Mus musculus. The body of Pseudomys glaucus was a robust with fine and dense fur, white at the underside and a pale blue-grey colour over the upperparts of the pelage. The measurements of the three known specimens are 95 millimetres for the head and body combined, with a tail that is slightly longer (100 mm) and displaying in white hairs. The weight range is 25 to 30 grams.[3]
References
- Lamoreux, J. (2008). "Pseudomys glaucus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2009.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Thomas, O. (1910). "New Australian Muridae of the genus Pseudomys". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology. Taylor and Francis, Ltd. 8 (6): 607–610 [608].
- Menkhorst, P.W.; Knight, F. (2011). A field guide to the mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 198. ISBN 9780195573954.