Sprinkle pouch mouse
| Sprinkle pouch mouse | ||||||||||||
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Speckled bag mouse ( Parantechinus apicalis ) according to Gould |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Parantechinus | ||||||||||||
| Tate , 1947 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Parantechinus apicalis | ||||||||||||
| ( Gray , 1842) |
The speckled pouch mouse ( Parantechinus apicalis ), also known by its English name Dibbler , is a species of marsupial mammal from the family of predatory mammals (Dasyuridae).
They are mice-like animals with a head-to-trunk length of 14 to 15 centimeters and a weight of 30 to 100 grams. Their fur is gray-brown on the top and speckled with white hair, the underside is light gray and interspersed with yellowish hair. The tail is covered with long hair.
These animals live in a small area in southwestern Western Australia where they inhabit heather areas. They are nocturnal and sleep in leaf nests during the day, which they usually erect in hollow tree trunks. Their diet is likely to consist mainly of insects, but they probably also consume nectar . After a gestation period of 44 to 53 days, the female gives birth to up to eight young animals, which become independent at three to four months and reach sexual maturity at ten to eleven months. Reports suggest that, as with the broad-footed pouch mice , all males may die synchronously after the first mating.
Southern speckled bag mice are threatened, the reasons for this being the destruction of their habitat and the stalking by introduced predators such as domestic cats or foxes . Secure populations are only found on two small islands off the coast of Western Australia (Boullanger and Whitlock Island), on the mainland isolated animals are spotted again and again, so that an exact information about the distribution area is not possible. The IUCN lists the species as "critically endangered" ( endangered ) and estimates the total stock of 500 to 1000 individuals.
Perth Zoo has had a conservation breeding and release program for speckled pouch mice since 1997 . By early 2007, 418 zoo-born speckled mice had been released, most of them on Escape Island in Jurien Bay (which also includes Boullanger Island and Whitlock Island).
In the past, a second species, Parantechinus bilarni , from the northern Northern Territory was also placed in this genus, but according to recent studies it should belong to the genus of the fat-tailed pouch mice ( Pseudantechinus ).
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0801857899 .
- DE Wilson, DM Reeder: Mammal Species of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0801882214 .
Web links
- Parantechinus apicalis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: Burbidge, AA & Woinarski, J., 2015. Retrieved on February 16 2018th
- Dibbler Breeding Program. Breeding and reintroduction program at Perth Zoo