Pebble-mound mouse
| Pebble-mound mouse | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Pseudomys |
| Species group: | Pebble-mound mice |
| Species | |
Pebble-mound mice are a group of rodents from Australia in the genus Pseudomys. They are small, brownish mice with medium to long, often pinkish brown tails. Unlike some other species of Pseudomys, they construct mounds of pebbles around their burrows, which play an important role in their social life.
There are four complementarily distributed species of pebble-mound mice in northern Australia. Their distribution appears to be limited by climatic conditions and the availability of pebbles and is thought to be the result of early dispersal across areas that are now inhospitable to pebble-mound mice. None of the four species is endangered.
Pebble-mound mice also known as field mice comprise four species, which have complementary distributions across northern Australia. The four species are as follows:
Pebble-mound mice are currently classified within the genus Pseudomys, a diverse group that includes morphologically and behaviorally disparate species. The four pebble-mound mice form a cohesive group supported by behavioral, morphological, and molecular similarities and may deserve recognition as a separate genus.
Pebble-mound mice are small, mouse-like animals, about 12 to 15 grams (0.42 to 0.53 oz) in mass. The upperparts are brownish, from grey-brown in some Kakadu pebble-mound mice to yellow-brown in the eastern pebble-mound mouse. The underparts are white and are sharply demarcated from the upperparts except in the eastern pebble-mound mouse. The tail ranges from about as long as the head and body in the Kakadu pebble-mound mouse to much longer in the western pebble-mound mouse. It is brown or grey above and white below in the central pebble-mound mouse and uniformly pinkish brown in the other species. Pebble-mound mice are morphologically readily recognizable and share a pseudogene that is absent in other groups. They are unique among murid rodents in exhibiting mutations in the ZPc gene that change the protein sequence.
Pebble-mound mice are found in areas with suitable amounts of available pebbles across tropical Australia. They occur in areas with hot summers and mild winters, with precipitation mainly during the summer. They generally live in open, rocky areas with the vegetation dominated by Eucalyptus trees, but the distributions of the Kakadu and eastern pebble-mound mice also includes areas with denser vegetation and that of the western pebble-mound mouse is dominated by Acacia instead. The distribution of pebble-mound mice is limited by suitable climate and by the availability of pebbles. Competition with other rodents is unlikely to play a major role. The distribution of pebble-mound mice, especially the western pebble-mound mouse, is slowly shrinking because of expanding arid areas, leading to fragmentation of their habitat.
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Wikipedia