Combtail pouch mouse
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Comb-tailed pouch mouse ( Dasycercus cristicauda ) |
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| Dasycercus cristicauda | ||||||||||||
| ( Krefft , 1867) |
The comb-tailed pouch mouse ( Dasycercus cristicauda ), also known by its English name Mulgara , is a species of marsupial from the family of the predatory pouches (Dasyuridae).
description
Like many other bag mice , these animals are physically similar to the unrelated mice . The body gives a stocky impression. The feet are short, there are 5 toes on the front legs and 4 toes on each of the hind legs. The head is relatively wide and the ears are very small and round. Their fur is yellowish or red-brown on the upper side, the underside is grayish or white in color. Most noticeable is the tail. The base of the tail is reddish in color up to a third. The distal two thirds are provided with black hair that is getting longer up to the tip - which forms the eponymous “comb” in case of danger. Comb-tailed pouch mice reach a head body length of 12.5 to 22 centimeters, a tail length of 7.5 to 13 centimeters and a weight of 60 to 170 grams.
Distribution and way of life
Their habitat are deserts in the interior of Australia , their range extends from northwestern Western Australia to southwestern Queensland . They are ground dwellers and are active both during the day and at night, but spend the hottest hours of the day in a self-dug burrow that contains a nest covered with grass. Usually only one animal lives in a burrow.
Comb-tailed pouch mice are carnivores that feed primarily on small vertebrates such as mice, as well as spiders and insects. They cover their fluid needs exclusively from their prey and do not have to drink.
Reproduction
The females' pouch consists only of skin folds that encompass six or eight teats. The litter size can be up to eight young animals, these are suckled for three to four months and reach sexual maturity at ten or eleven months. At six years of age, their life expectancy is relatively high.
threat
The species has become rare due to the transformation of its habitat into pastures and the stalking of imported predators. Its area of distribution is fragmented, from some regions it has completely disappeared. The IUCN lists them as endangered (vulnerable) .
Systematics
The closest relatives of the comb-tailed pouch mouse are the brush-tail pouch mouse ( Dasycercus blythi ) and the double-comb pouch mouse ( Dasyuroides byrnei ), which is sometimes classified in the same genus ( Dasycercus ).
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
- PA Wooley: The species of Dasycercus Peters, 1875 (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) . Memoirs of Museum Victoria 62 (2): 213-221 (2005).
Web links
- Dasycercus cristicauda inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Woolley, P., 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
- Crest-tailed mulgara ( Dasycercus cristicauda ) at arkive.org