356.

Long-tailed Mouse

Pseudomys higginsi

French: Pseudomys de Higgins / German: Langschwanz-Australienmaus / Spanish: Ratén de cola larga

Other common names: Long-tailed Pseudomys

Taxonomy. Mus (Epimys) higgins i Trouessart, 1897,

Kentishbury, Tasmania, Australia.

G. H. H. Tate in 1951 classified P. higgins in the Pseudomys subgenus, as did C. H. S. Watts and H. J. Aslin in 1981. In a molecular phylogeny F. Ford in 2006 and B. Breed and Ford in 2007 placed P. higgins in a clade with P. australis (the type species of the genus). This clade, however, was subsequently not fully supported and

::

there is a need to reviseit; a phylogeny by P. Smissen and K. C.Rowe in H.J. McLennan and colleagues’ 2017 study, found that P. higginsi is sister taxon of P. fieldi . Monotypic.

Distribution. Tasmania and Bruny I, SE Australia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 115-150 mm, tail 145-200 mm, ear 21-26 mm, hindfoot 30-36 mm; weight 50-90 g. Males are heavier and larger than females. The Longtailed Mouse is one of the largest species in the genus, and has larger feet than most of the other Pseudomys . It has a dark gray dorsal pelage,is paler below, and has a bicolored tail. Tail is longer (c.150%) thanhead-body length. Feet are very long. Females bear two pairs of mammae. Karyotype 2n = 48.

Habitat. Cool temperate rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest, wet scrub, and alpine boulder fields from sea level to 1600 m, at places where annual rainfall may exceed 2000 mm.

Food and Feeding. [.ong-tailed Mice have an opportunist and generalist diet that includes vegetable matter, such as grasses,grain, fruits, ferns, and mosses. They have been found to als consume fungi and such invertebrates as lepidopteran larvae, coleopterans, dipterans, arachnids, and oligochaetes.

Breeding. Reproduction starts in September and occurs in spring and summer. Scrotal development in males occurs 1-3 months before females become fertile. Gestation lasts 31-33 days, and average litter size is three. Young attach to the nipples, and females drag them around when they move from one nest to another. Eyes open at day 15, young wean by day 33, and they reach adulthood by around day 90-100.

Activity patterns. [Long-tailed Mice are mainly terrestrial, but may be found in branches of small trees. They are generally nocturnal, but can be active also during day. They construct nests from plant material, but also shelter in holes in fallen trees and under litter on forest floor. The long tail and long feet may indicate occasional leaping.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Individuals can run fast. Long-tailed Mice can stand in semi-upright position with forefeet above the ground andmake low-frequency vocalizations. They are social and territorial, living in family groups in relatively dense populations of about ten families/ha. Estimated home range size is large (2630 m* for males; 2080 m® for females). Home ranges of males overlap with those of two or more females.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Longtailed Mouse has a fairly wide distribution in Tasmania.

Bibliography. Baverstock et al. (1977), Breed & Ford (2007), Driessen & Rose (1999), Ford (2006), McLennan et al. (2017), Stoddart & Challis (1991), Strahan (1983), Tate (1951), Watts & Aslin (1981).