Heath mouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Heath mouse |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Pseudomys
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| Species: |
shortridgei
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The heath mouse (Pseudomys shortridgei) is a type of mouse. It belongs to a group called Old World rats and mice.
Contents
What is the Heath Mouse?
Naming the Heath Mouse
The heath mouse was first described in 1907 by Oldfield Thomas. He based his description on samples collected by Guy Shortridge. Shortridge was a mammal expert from South Africa. He did fieldwork in Western Australia. Thomas named the mouse shortridgei to honor him.
People call this mouse by several names. These include heath mouse or heath rat. An older name is dayang, which comes from the Noongar language. Other names are blunt-faced rat and Shortridge's native mouse.
Scientists have studied heath mice from different areas. Even though they live far apart, they look very similar. Their genes are also very much alike.
How to Identify a Heath Mouse
The heath mouse is a larger type of Australian rodent. It usually weighs between 55 and 90 grams. The average weight is about 70 grams. Its body is 95 to 120 millimeters long. Its tail is shorter, measuring 85 to 100 millimeters.
This mouse has thick fur and a stocky body. Its tail is covered in dark brown hair on top. The underside of the tail is whitish. Heath mice have a wide face and a short snout. Their ears are rounded and about 14 to 16 millimeters long.
The fur on their back is warm brown. It has flecks of buff and blackish colors. This gives it a grey-brown look overall. The fur on their belly is much paler. The tail also shows this color difference. The individual hairs are slate-colored at the base. They have a clay brown tip. Longer, darker guard hairs cover the top of their body. This makes the heath mouse look fluffy.
The regular fur is about 17 millimeters long. The guard hairs can be up to 22 millimeters long. The fur is soft, loose, and dense. Its overall color looks grizzled or brindled. Their feet are covered in long, dark grey hair.
The heath mouse looks a lot like another native animal, the bush rat (Rattus fuscipes). But you can tell them apart. The bush rat has pink feet and a hairless, scaly tail. The heath mouse has hairy feet and a hairy, two-colored tail. The heath mouse's face is also blunter, like a Roman nose. Its eyes bulge out.
Heath mice also have two pairs of teats. These are located near their groin area.
Heath Mouse Behaviour
What They Eat
Heath mice are mostly plant-eaters (herbivores). They also eat fungi. When flowers and seeds are not available, they eat green grass shoots. They also eat the fruiting bodies of some fungi. Their diet is quite varied. They can digest tough plant and fungal material.
About one-third of their diet is underground fungi. These are like nutritious truffle-like foods found in the soil. Seeds are a big part of their diet when they are plentiful. This is usually in the early austral summer. They also eat shoots and leaves of grasses. In winter, they dig in the soil for seeds.
Daily Life
Pseudomys shortridgei is considered semi-nocturnal. This means they are active during parts of the day and night. They are usually active in the morning. Then they rest during the day. They start looking for food again in the late afternoon and evening. When people handle them in the wild, they are usually calm and trusting.
Where Heath Mice Live
Habitat and Distribution
Heath mice live in two separate areas of Australia. One population is in the east, and the other is in the west. In the east, they live in treeless heathlands and scrub. In southwest Australia, they prefer taller scrubland. This habitat is often found with mallee trees.
Their population is affected by fire. They need a mix of old, unburnt vegetation and recently burnt areas. This helps keep their numbers stable.
The eastern population lives in the Grampians region. They also live in southwest Victoria. This area includes places like Dergholm, Nelson, and Mount Clay. Some heath mice have also been found on Kangaroo Island. We don't know if they are still there.
The western population lives in isolated spots. These include national parks and reserves. Examples are Fitzgerald River, Lake Magenta, and Dragon Rocks. They are also found at the Ravensthorpe Range. Scientists believe the eastern and western groups became separated thousands of years ago. This was likely due to the Great Australian Bight.
The area a single heath mouse uses can change. It depends on how much food is available. One study found they used about 0.75 hectares. Another study using radio tracking found they used up to 5 hectares. The size of their home range does not seem to change with age or gender.
Rediscovery and History
For about 30 years, people thought heath rats were extinct. This was after a big decline in Australian mammals. No heath mice were seen after 1931 in southwest Australia. However, some specimens were given to the Western Australian Museum in 1931. They were caught by domestic cats near Harris Nature Reserve. Later, evidence of living heath mice was found in owl droppings.
Many animals found in surveys were thought to be bush rats. This included the 1931 collection.
The first rediscovery of the heath mouse was in Victoria in 1961. This was at The Grampians. Later, they were found in lowland heaths to the south. In Western Australia, they were rediscovered in 1987. They were also found on Kangaroo Island in South Australia in the early 2000s.
Before European settlement, heath mice were likely found across a much wider area. Sometimes, their bones were mistaken for other mouse species. This might explain why they were not found in some areas. Scientists have used aerial photos to find new places where they might live. They look for specific plant communities on lateritic soils.
Conservation Status
Protecting the Heath Mouse
The IUCN Red List is a list of threatened species. In 2012, the heath mouse was listed as "near threatened." This means they are of less concern than "vulnerable" species. But their numbers are still low. They live in an area smaller than 2,000 square kilometers. They are found in fewer than ten protected locations.
The population of heath mice is decreasing. If this continues, their status might become more serious. In 2012, there were an estimated 11,000 individuals.
The heath mouse is listed as threatened in Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. Nationally, under the EPBC Act (1999), it is considered vulnerable to extinction. For a while, people thought the heath rat was extinct. But then small groups were rediscovered.
Heath mice are part of a group of small to medium mammals. Many of these animals disappeared between 1875 and 1925. This was due to several threats. One idea is that a new disease spread from the Western Australian coast. This disease might have caused a big drop in their numbers. Scientists believe this species might have had weak immunity to the disease.
