Australian wide-toothed rat
| Australian wide-toothed rat | ||||||||||||
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Australian wide tooth rat ( Mastacomys fuscus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Mastacomys | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1882 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Mastacomys fuscus | ||||||||||||
| ( Thomas , 1882) |
The Australian wide-toothed rat ( Mastacomys fuscus ) is a rodent that is native to southeastern Australia . Vole-like in shape , it is most closely related to the Australian mice ( Pseudomys ). The recent discovery that Pseudomys is paraphyletic in relation to the Australian wide-toothed rat has led to this species being often classified under Pseudomys itself .
The head body length is 15 to 19 centimeters, plus a 10 to 13 centimeter long tail. The fur is gray-brown and silky soft. Wide-toothed rats were often called a relic species, because they are island-like in separate regions. The habitat are mountainous landscapes in New South Wales , Victoria and Tasmania , in which a cold and humid climate prevails. In winter the animals dig tunnels through the snow. They then become sociable, but are loners in the warmer months. The food is grass, leaves and seeds.
In this species there are one or two litters per year, in which up to four young are born after about five weeks of gestation . These are well developed and are already wearing fur. They become independent after about a month and are the size of adult animals after 16 weeks.
Fossil finds show that the wide-toothed rat had a much wider distribution a few millennia ago. It is not common anywhere; the IUCN lists it as " near threatened " because of the feared population decline .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD et al. 1999, pp. 1561-1562, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Web links
- Mastacomys fuscus onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved October 9, 2009.