Gould mouse
| Gould mouse | ||||||||||||
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Gould mouse ( Pseudomys gouldii ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pseudomys gouldii | ||||||||||||
| ( Waterhouse , 1839) |
The Gould mouse ( Pseudomys gouldii ), also known as Gould's Australian small mouse , is an extinct rodent belonging to the genus Australian mice . The species was named by George Robert Waterhouse in honor of Elizabeth Gould .
features
With a head-torso length of 100 to 120 mm, the Gould mouse was slightly smaller than the house rat ( Rattus rattus ). The tail length was 90 to 100 mm, the rear foot length 16 to 18 mm and the weight was approximately 50 grams. The females had four belly teats. The ears were quite big and a bit pointed. The feet were thin and quite long. The fur was long and soft. The top was light ocher yellow with numerous long black hairs scattered on the back. The feet, chin, throat, and all of the underside were white. The ears were brown with tiny, scattered yellow hair. The long whiskers were brownish. The upper incisors were deep orange, the lower ones yellowish. The claws were white.
Way of life
The Gould mouse lived in small family groups. During the day she looked for shelter in about 15 centimeters deep earth pits that were built under bushes. The nest was lined with soft hay.
die out
Subfossil material found in widely separated regions of Australia suggests that the range of the Gould's mouse stretched across large areas of western, southwest and southern Australia before colonization. From the 1830s, however, they gradually disappeared from their habitats. The exact causes of their disappearance are unclear, but feral cats and the destruction of the soil by grazing cattle may have played a role in the extinction of the species. The last specimens of the Gould mouse collected the Blandowski expedition in the years 1856 and 1857 in the area of the confluence of the Darling and Murray rivers in New South Wales .
literature
- Tim Flannery , Peter Schouten : A Gap in Nature. Discovering the World's Extinct Animals. Atlantic Monthly Press, New York NY 2001, ISBN 0-87113-797-6 .
- Peter Menkhorst: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne et al. 2001, ISBN 0-19-550870-X .
- Charles Darwin (Ed.): The Zoology Of The Voyage Of HMS Beagle, Under The Command Of Captain Fitzroy, RN, During the Years 1832 to 1836. Part 2: George Robert Waterhouse : Mammalia. Smith, Elder and Co., London 1839, p. 67 , (as Mus gouldii ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pseudomys gouldii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: Burbidge, AA & Woinarski, J., 2012. Accessed April 24, 2020th