The lesser stick-nest rat or white-tipped stick-nest rat (''Leporillus apicalis'') is an extinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of rodent in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae come ...

. It lived in central Australia where it built nests of sticks that accumulate over years and can become very large. The last confirmed sighting of this rat was in 1933 although there is a credible report of a sighting in 1970. In 2008, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

listed it as " critically endangered", suggesting that it may yet survive in remote areas of unsurveyed territory, but revised its evaluation to "extinct" again in 2016, based on an assessment in 2012.

Behaviour

It accumulated large mounds of sticks to construct its

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

s, which were up to three metres long and a metre high. It was easily tamed, sometimes climbing onto tables to get

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. It was also eaten by people. The last capture was filmed on 18 July 1933, when the stick-nests were set alight. The specimens are held in the South Australian Museum. The rat may have declined from competition with

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

. The reduction in available food sources also caused them to be more vulnerable to predators like owls.Copley, Peter. “Natural Histories of Australia’s Stick-Nest Rats, Genus Leporillus (Rodentia : Muridae).” Wildlife Research, vol. 26, no. 4, 1999, p. 513., doi:10.1071/wr97056. There is a possibility that a lesser stick-nest rat was seen in a cave in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in 1970. The last specimen was found at Mount Crombie. Gerard Krefft in 1862 wrote that he encountered the species in Euston, Bourke, and on both sides of the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

and on the Darling. He could dislodge up to 15 individuals from a single tree and kept a large number of them in captivity. They were tame enough that any that escaped came back to join him for supper, "and help dthemselves, to

damper A damper is a device that deadens, restrains, or depresses. It may refer to: Music * Damper pedal, a device that mutes musical tones, particularly in stringed instruments * A mute for various brass instruments Structure * Damper (flow), a mechan ...

especially". On a similar note, he also wrote that they themselves had "flesh white, tender, and well-tasted". Krefft tried to keep lesser-stick nest rats in a box with greater-stick nest rats but found that they kept fighting and that the former always remained victorious.

Conservation status assessment

The 2008 release of the updated IUCN status for the lesser stick-nest rat downgraded the conservation status from

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

to critically endangered (possibly extinct), owing to the very slight possibility that a very small population may still exist in yet to be surveyed remote lands of the Australian interior. This was based on a reliable record from 1970, continued occasional reports of fresh vegetation being added to old stick-nests, and much of this species' range being in remote portions of central Australia which have not yet been fully surveyed. However, the classification was revised to "extinct" again in 2016.

References

External sources

* Leporillus Extinct mammals of Australia Rodent extinctions since 1500 Mammals of Western Australia Extinct mammals of South Australia Mammals of the Northern Territory Mammals of New South Wales Mammals of Victoria (Australia) Rodents of Australia Mammals described in 1854 {{WesternAustralia-stub