Pseudomys chapmani Kitchener 1980

Pseudomys chapmani Kitchener 1980, Rec. West. Aust. Mus ., 8: 405.

Type Locality: Australia, Western Australia, Pilbara Dist., East Hammersley Range, West Angelas Mine Site (Kitchener, 1980, provided additional information).

Vernacular Names: Western Pebble-mound Mouse.

Distribution: Australia, NW Western Australia; extant specimens known only from Pilbara Dist. (Kitchener, 1985:216), but distribution of pebble mounds indicates range once extended through Gascoyne to Murchison Dist. with S limit near Mileura, N limit the Great Sandy Desert, and E limit the Gibson Desert (Dunlop and Pound, 1981; Start and Kitchener, 1995).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: This species builds pebble mounds and is sympatric with P. hermannsburgensis (Kitchener, 1980), which does not construct such mounds (Dunlop and Pound, 1981), but phylogenetically most closely allied to P. johnsoni, another species that constructs pebble mounds (Kitchener, 1985). The use of pebble mounds as indicators of the presence of P. chapmani is documented by Anstee (1996). Reviewed by Start and Kitchener (1995).