The long-tailed mouse (''Pseudomys higginsi'') is a native

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n mammal in the Order

Rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

ia and the Family

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 comes ...

. It is found only on the island of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The long-tailed mouse is an

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nu ...

that feeds on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s and a range of plants. It is found in forested areas, particularly in sub-alpine

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

, and may live in burrows. The species reaches a weight of about 70 grams. It is distinguished from other species by its two-tone tail, which is white on the underside and dark above. The tail is 1.3 times longer than the head and body combined. It is speculated that ''P.higginsi'' uses its tail for balance while leaping in habitat such as boulder screes. Fossils of this species have been found in

Cloggs Cave Cloggs Cave is a limestone cave and rockshelter with significant Aboriginal archaeological deposits, located on a cliff along the Snowy River gorge near the town of Buchan, Victoria. The cave was within the country of the Krowathunkooloong (Kr ...

Buchan Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by ...

in eastern Victoria and were identified by palaeontologist Jeanette Hope. The date for the remains based on C-14 dating were between 12 and 20,000 years old. __TOC__

Distribution and habitat

The long-tailed mouse ranges from sea level to approximately 1,200 m. and seems to prefer habitats that offer high rainfall, such as wet forests.Driessen, M. M., & Rose, R. K. (3 December 1999). Pseudomys higginsi. Mammalian Species, 623, 1-5. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://www.science.smith.edu/resources/msi/pdfs/i0076-3519-623-01-0001.pdf It is a habitat generalist which is resilient to environmental modifications. In a study of short-term responses of native rodents to various logging styles in old growth wet

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

forests, it was found that the long-tailed mouse was equally abundant across all forestry treatments and was positively correlated to reduced ground cover. Another study found that significantly greater numbers of long-tailed mouse were found in wet disturbed forests and that logging and harvesting did not effect the diversity of the local ecosystem. A conservational study conducted in 2012 was able to compare the historical range of the long-tailed mouse to its current range to determine if this helped predict the risk of extinction.Hanna, E., & Cardillo, M. (2013). A comparison of current and reconstructed historic geographic range sizes as predictors of extinction risk in Australian mammals. Biological Conservation, 158, 196-204. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2012.08.014 Reduced geographic range size is often a strong predictor of species decline. It was shown that despite modern habitat loss, the long-tailed mouse is less threatened than would be expected from just the loss of its historical habitat ranges.

Diet

The long-tailed mouse is an opportunistic generalist

whose diet is seasonal and varies with local availability. Using fecal analysis, it was found to consume a wide range of plant matter, such as grasses, grains, bamboo, fruits, ferns, and mosses. It was also found to consume fungi and insects of wide varieties.

Ecology

The long-tailed mouse is a primarily nocturnal

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...

but can also be active during the day. It is found primarily in rainforest, wet scrub, eucalyptus scrub, sedgeland, and low alpine vegetation. Relevant abundance of the long-tailed mouse is correlated to several other species in its habitat. ''Lazenby et.al.'' was able to show across four independent sample areas that the abundance of the long-tailed mouse was correlated positively to swamp rats (''Rattus lutreolus velutinus'') and negatively correlated to feral cats (''Felis catus'').

Tasmanian devils The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

were also shown to have a negative effect on the long-tailed mouse and all other small

populations surveyed in this study.

Life cycle

The long-tailed mouse breeds seasonally from September through JuneStoddart, D.M., and G. Challis. 1991. The habitat and field biology of the long-tailed mouse (Pseudomys higginsi). Wildlife Research, 20:733-738. Gestation generally lasts approximately 31–33 days, with an average litter of 3 young. Young become fully independent 33 days after birth and reach adult size at approximately 40 days. The tail will continue to grow until they are approximately 75 days old. There is no significant

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

in this species. However, there is some geographic variation in the species concerning overall body weight, hind foot length, and tail length. As a

, ''P.higginsi'' nurses their young from shortly after birth until weaning. The young fasten themselves to the nipples, which allow for the mother to take evasive actions when necessary.Green, R. H. 1968. The murids and small dasyurids in Tasmania. Parts 3 and 4. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, 32:1-19.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q747319 Pseudomys Mammals of Tasmania Rodents of Australia Mammals described in 1897