Australian bush rat

Australian bush rat
	Bush rat ( Rattus fuscipes )
Systematics
Family :	Long-tailed mice (Muridae)
Subfamily :	Old World Mice (Murinae)
Tribe :	Rattini
	Rattus group
Genre :	Rats ( rattus )
Type :	Australian bush rat
Scientific name
	Rattus fuscipes
	( Waterhouse , 1839)

The Australian bush rat ( Rattus fuscipes , aborig .: Nilee) is one of the seven native Australian representatives of the genus Rattus , which has been native to this continent for a million years. Bush rats occur along the coast of southern and eastern Australia, where their habitat is usually limited to forest areas with dense undergrowth or thick layers of leaves. They are nocturnal , have a wide range of food and are themselves prey to various predators. Bush rats are no cultural followers of humans.

Lineage and Distribution

Distribution of the Australian bush rat; red = row f. fuscipes ; green = row f. grayi , blue = R. f. assimilis , brown = R. f. coracius

The Rattus species found in Australia are close relatives of the species in New Guinea and Southeast Asia. Their first appearance is dated around a million years ago.

There are four known subspecies of the Australian bush rat. The first subspecies, R. f. fuscipes , has a distribution area along the coastline of the southwest Australian mainland and some islands off the coast there. R. f. greyii occurs along the southern coast of Australia, between the Eyre Peninsula and Portland and some islands. Further east, from the west coast of Victoria to Rockhampton in Queensland, R. f. assimilis , both on the offshore islands and along the coast and in the mountains. The fourth subspecies, R. f. coracius , lives in coastal areas of northeast Queensland from Townsville to Cooktown. R. f. assimilis is the best studied subspecies.

All bush rats have adapted their way of life to natural habitats. They do not occur in farmland and only in small numbers in disturbed areas. The natural habitats include eucalyptus- dominated forests, which have a heterogeneous undergrowth of shrubs and grasses as well as a lot of leaves and dead wood (old trunks). There they spend the daytime in underground burrows, only to eat and mate they move on the surface at night.

Size and appearance

This small mammal reaches a body length of 111 to 214 millimeters and a weight of up to 225 grams, with the males being larger than the females. Bush rats have a dense, soft fur, the color of which can vary from gray-brown to red-brown on the back and from light-gray to light-brown on the belly. The tail is hairless, brown, gray or black and slightly shorter than the head and trunk. The ears are round and colored pink, gray or brown. The feet are predominantly light colored. The incisor teeth in the upper and lower jaw are yellow in color.

food

The food composition of the Australian bush rat varies greatly between different populations and between different seasons. Both total insectivory and total herbivory can occur, usually mushrooms, parts of plants (roots, seeds, fruits), arthropods and eggs are components of the diet. Sometimes flowers are also sought out in order to consume nectar and pollen. Consequently, bush rats can also serve as pollinators of various plants and as disseminators of plant seeds and fungal spores. However, this does not mean that bush rats consume everything available. As broad as the composition of their food is, bush rats always show preferences for certain food sources.

Behavior and reproduction

Unlike many other species of rattus , the Australian bush rat is not considered gregarious. Nevertheless, within the distribution area there are areas with a higher density of individuals, which are delimited by areas with a lower density of individuals or completely without bush rats.

R. f. assimilis can reproduce all year round, but usually avoids reproduction in winter. The main reproduction time is in the Australian summer (October to February, peak in December). On average, five young (about 5 grams each) are born per litter, but several litters per year are possible. (The average is 2.8 litters per year.) At around four to five weeks old, bush rats become independent and leave their mother's area of activity . At the age of three to six months the young are able to reproduce, but the first reproduction usually takes place in the next year. Sexually active bush rats show high fall mortality, while sexually inactive individuals make up the majority of the wintering population.

Interspecific interactions

Australian bush rats face different types of predators . As they are nocturnal , owls like the giant owl ( Ninox strictua ) and the barn owl ( Tyto alba ) hunt from trees. In mammals, it is predominantly the introduced red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) and also introduced, feral domestic cats ( Felis silvestris forma cattus ) that hunt down bush rats. Their predators also include several representatives of the snake, including the tiger otters ( Notechis spec. ) And Stephen's banded snake ( Hoplocephalus stephensii ).

Australian bush rats also interact with other species of rattus . Another native species is z. B. the swamp rat ( R. lutreolus ) together with the bush rat. However, since food and habitat requirements differ somewhat for both species, inter-species (interspecific) competition is low. In areas disturbed by human interference, bush rats are often inferior to competition from introduced species such as house rats ( R. rattus ).

Web links

Commons : Rattus fuscipes - collection of images, videos and audio files

Rattus fuscipes inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Menkhorst, P., Lunney, D., Ellis, M., Burnett, S. & Friend, T., 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2013.

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^ Dan W. Walton (Ed.): Fauna of Australia. Volume 1B: Mammalia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1989, ISBN 0-644-06056-5 , pp. 939 ff .: Muridae.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ronald Strahan (Ed.): The Mammals of Australia. 2nd edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney 1998, ISBN 1-876334-88-6 .
^ John Seebeck, Peter Menkhorst: Status and conservation of the rodents of Victoria. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 27, No. 4, 2000, ISSN 1035-3712 , pp. 357-369, doi : 10.1071 / WR97055 .
↑ DC Cheal: The diets and dietary preferences of Rattus fuscipes and Rattus lutreolus at Walkerville in Victoria. In: Australian Wildlife Research. Vol. 14, No. 1, 1987, ISSN 0310-7833 , pp. 35-44, doi : 10.1071 / WR9870035 .
↑ PL Carron, DCD Happold, TM Bubela: Diet of 2 sympatric Australian sub-alpine rodents, Mastacomys-fuscus and Rattus-fuscipes. In: Australian Wildlife Research. Vol. 17, No. 5, 1990, pp. 479-489, doi : 10.1071 / WR9900479 .
↑ WF Laurance, JD Grant, JD 1994 Photographic identification of groud-nest predators in Australian tropical rainforest. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 21, No. 2, 1994, pp. 241-248, doi : 10.1071 / WR9940241 .
↑ ^a ^b M. K. Tory, TW May, PJ, Keane, AF Bennett: Mycophagy in small mammals: A comparison of the occurence and diversity of hypogeal fungi in the diet of the long-nosed potoroo Potorous tridactylus and the bush rat Rattus fuscipes from southwestern Victoria, Australia. In: Australian Journal of Ecology. Vol. 22, No. 4, 1997, ISSN 0307-692X , pp. 460-470, doi : 10.1111 / j.1442-9993.1997.tb00697.x .
^ Ian G. van Tets, Robert J. Whelan: Banksia pollen in the diet of Australian mammals. In: Ecography. Vol. 20, No. 5, 1997, ISSN 0906-7590 , pp. 499-505, doi : 10.1111 / j.1600-0587.1997.tb00418.x .
↑ Denise A. Day, Brian G. Collins, Rosemarie G. and Rees: Reproductive biology of the rare and endangered Banksia brownii Baxter ex R. Br. (Proteaceae). In: Australian Journal of Ecology. Vol. 22, No. 3, 1997, pp. 307-315, doi : 10.1111 / j.1442-9993.1997.tb00676.x .
↑ Paul Reddell, Alister V. Spain, Michael Hopkins dispersal of spores of mycorrhizal fungi in scats of native mammals in tropical forests in northeastern Australia. In: Biotropica. Vol. 29, No. 2, 1997, ISSN 0006-3606 , pp. 184-192, doi : 10.1111 / j.1744-7429.1997.tb00023.x .
↑ Rod Peakall, Monica Ruibal, David B. Lindenmayer: Spatial autocorrelation analysis offers new insights into gene flow in the Australian bush rat, Rattus fuscipes. In: evolution. Vol. 57, No. 5, 2003, ISSN 0014-3820 , pp. 1182-1195, doi : 10.1111 / j.0014-3820.2003.tb00327.x .
^ AF Bennet: Microhabitat use by long-nosed potoroo, Potorous tridactylus, and and other small mammals in remnant forest vegetation of South-Western Victoria. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 20, No. 3, 1993, pp. 267-285, doi : 10.1071 / WR9930267 .
^ Susan D. Hutchings: The effects of a fox removal program on small and medium-sized mammal population dynamics within the Anglesea Heathlands, Victoria. Melbourne 1996, (Masters thesis Deakin University), Summary .
↑ K. Green: altitudinal and temporal differences in the food of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at alpine and subalpine altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 30, No. 3, 2003, pp. 245-253, doi : 10.1071 / WR02008 .
↑ Mark Fitzgerald, Richard Shine, Francis Lemckert: Life history attributes of the threatened Australian snake (Stephens banded snake Hoplocephalus stephensii, Elapidae). In: Biological Conservation. Vol. 119, No. 1, 2004, ISSN 0006-3207 , pp. 121-128, doi : 10.1016 / j.biocon.2003.10.026 .

[1] Dan W. Walton (Ed.): Fauna of Australia. Volume 1B: Mammalia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1989, ISBN 0-644-06056-5 , pp. 939 ff .: Muridae.

[Strahan1997-2] Ronald Strahan (Ed.): The Mammals of Australia. 2nd edition. Reed New Holland, Sydney 1998, ISBN 1-876334-88-6 .

[3] John Seebeck, Peter Menkhorst: Status and conservation of the rodents of Victoria. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 27, No. 4, 2000, ISSN 1035-3712 , pp. 357-369, doi : 10.1071 / WR97055 .

[4] DC Cheal: The diets and dietary preferences of Rattus fuscipes and Rattus lutreolus at Walkerville in Victoria. In: Australian Wildlife Research. Vol. 14, No. 1, 1987, ISSN 0310-7833 , pp. 35-44, doi : 10.1071 / WR9870035 .

[5] PL Carron, DCD Happold, TM Bubela: Diet of 2 sympatric Australian sub-alpine rodents, Mastacomys-fuscus and Rattus-fuscipes. In: Australian Wildlife Research. Vol. 17, No. 5, 1990, pp. 479-489, doi : 10.1071 / WR9900479 .

[6] WF Laurance, JD Grant, JD 1994 Photographic identification of groud-nest predators in Australian tropical rainforest. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 21, No. 2, 1994, pp. 241-248, doi : 10.1071 / WR9940241 .

[Tory1997-7] M. K. Tory, TW May, PJ, Keane, AF Bennett: Mycophagy in small mammals: A comparison of the occurence and diversity of hypogeal fungi in the diet of the long-nosed potoroo Potorous tridactylus and the bush rat Rattus fuscipes from southwestern Victoria, Australia. In: Australian Journal of Ecology. Vol. 22, No. 4, 1997, ISSN 0307-692X , pp. 460-470, doi : 10.1111 / j.1442-9993.1997.tb00697.x .

[8] Ian G. van Tets, Robert J. Whelan: Banksia pollen in the diet of Australian mammals. In: Ecography. Vol. 20, No. 5, 1997, ISSN 0906-7590 , pp. 499-505, doi : 10.1111 / j.1600-0587.1997.tb00418.x .

[9] Denise A. Day, Brian G. Collins, Rosemarie G. and Rees: Reproductive biology of the rare and endangered Banksia brownii Baxter ex R. Br. (Proteaceae). In: Australian Journal of Ecology. Vol. 22, No. 3, 1997, pp. 307-315, doi : 10.1111 / j.1442-9993.1997.tb00676.x .

[10] Paul Reddell, Alister V. Spain, Michael Hopkins dispersal of spores of mycorrhizal fungi in scats of native mammals in tropical forests in northeastern Australia. In: Biotropica. Vol. 29, No. 2, 1997, ISSN 0006-3606 , pp. 184-192, doi : 10.1111 / j.1744-7429.1997.tb00023.x .

[11] Rod Peakall, Monica Ruibal, David B. Lindenmayer: Spatial autocorrelation analysis offers new insights into gene flow in the Australian bush rat, Rattus fuscipes. In: evolution. Vol. 57, No. 5, 2003, ISSN 0014-3820 , pp. 1182-1195, doi : 10.1111 / j.0014-3820.2003.tb00327.x .

[12] AF Bennet: Microhabitat use by long-nosed potoroo, Potorous tridactylus, and and other small mammals in remnant forest vegetation of South-Western Victoria. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 20, No. 3, 1993, pp. 267-285, doi : 10.1071 / WR9930267 .

[13] Susan D. Hutchings: The effects of a fox removal program on small and medium-sized mammal population dynamics within the Anglesea Heathlands, Victoria. Melbourne 1996, (Masters thesis Deakin University), Summary .

[14] K. Green: altitudinal and temporal differences in the food of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at alpine and subalpine altitudes in the Snowy Mountains. In: Wildlife Research. Vol. 30, No. 3, 2003, pp. 245-253, doi : 10.1071 / WR02008 .

[15] Mark Fitzgerald, Richard Shine, Francis Lemckert: Life history attributes of the threatened Australian snake (Stephens banded snake Hoplocephalus stephensii, Elapidae). In: Biological Conservation. Vol. 119, No. 1, 2004, ISSN 0006-3207 , pp. 121-128, doi : 10.1016 / j.biocon.2003.10.026 .