Pilliga mouse

Pseudomys pilligaensis, commonly known as the Pilliga mouse or poolkoo, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. Its distribution comprises the Pilliga forest region of New South Wales, Australia, specimens have also been trapped in the Warrumbungle National Park and Weetalibah Nature Reserve. Its conservation status is currently listed as "Data Deficient" due to unresolved questions on its taxonomic status.

Pilliga mouse
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Pseudomys
Species:
P. pilligaensis
Binomial name
Pseudomys pilligaensis
Fox & Briscoe, 1980

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 millimetres (3–3 in) 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 millimetres (0.6–0.7 in) and the weight of the animal is 10–14 grams (0.4–0.5 oz).[2][3]

Pseudomys pilligaensis in the Pilliga forest

Taxonomy

The Pilliga mouse was first formally 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] More recent work has suggested that it is a southern population of the delicate mouse Pseudomys delicatulus.[5][6] Another suggestion is that it is it a hybrid between Pseudomys delicatulus and the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae).[7]

Distribution and habitat

P. pilligaensis was described as having a restricted distribution in the Pilliga forest in central New South Wales, initially collected from only four sites within the Pilliga "scrub", none more than 50 km apart.[4] More recent work has shown the Pilliga Mouse is found across central and eastern sections of the Pilliga forest. However, after a bushfire in January 2013 which burned about 80% of the Warrumbungle National Park, a specimen was collected in that park. Pilliga mouse populations increase rapidly in size after fire [8] and rain.[9] Recent research indicates that preferred habitat for this species includes shrubby woodlands and heathlands, particularly where Broombush Melaleuca uncinata and Bloodwood Corymbia trachyphloia occurs.[8][10] The mouse is nocturnal and lives in burrows.[8]

Conservation

As of January 2015, the Pilliga mouse is currently listed by the IUCN as "Data Deficient" because of the uncertainty of its taxonomic status. If further research indicated that the Pilliga mouse is a separate species, its status would be determined as "Endangered".[1] Threats to the population in the Pilliga include exploration and infrastructure construction relating to coal seam gas, as well as habitat loss through forestry, predation by the introduced cat and fox, and competition from the house mouse.[2]

References
  1. Burbidge, A.A. & Woinarski, J. (2016). "Pseudomys pilligaensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T18555A22398339. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T18555A22398339.en.
  2. "Pseudomys pilligaensis — Pilliga Mouse, Poolkoo". Species Profile and Threats Database. Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. 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. Fox, Barry & Briscoe, David (May 1980). "Pseudomys pilligaensis: A new species of murid rodent from the Pilliga scrub, northern New South Wales". Australian Mammalogy. 3: 109–126.
  5. Strahan, Ronald (2008). Dyck, Steve Van (ed.). The mammals of Australia (3rd ed.). Sydney: Reed New Holland. p. 880. ISBN 9781877069253.
  6. Woinarski, John C.Z.; Burbidge, Andrew A. & Harrison, Peter L. (2014). The action plan for Australian mammals 2012. CSIRO. ISBN 9780643108738.
  7. "Piliga Mouse - profile". N.S.W. Government Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  8. Paull, David C. (2009). "Habitat and post-fire selection of the Pilliga Mouse Pseudomys pilligaensis in Pilliga East State Forest". Pacific Conservation Biology. 15 (4): 254–267.
  9. Tokushima, Hideyuki; Green, Stuart W. & Jarman, Peter J. (2009). "Ecology of the rare but irruptive Pilliga mouse (Pseudomys pilligaensis). I. Population fluctuation and breeding season". Australian Journal of Zoology. 56 (6): 363–373. doi:10.1071/ZO08042.
  10. Paull, David; Milledge, David; Spark, Phil; Townley, Sally & Taylor, Kevin (2014). "Identification of important habitat for the Pilliga Mouse Pseudomys pilligaensis". Australian Zoologist. pp. 15-22.
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