333.

Central Short-tailed Mouse

Leggadina forresti

French: Rat de Forrest / German: Zentrale Australien-Zwergmaus / Spanish: Raton de cola corta de Australia central

Other common names: Desert Short-tailed Mouse, Forrest's Leggadina, Forrest's Mouse, Forrest's Short-tailed Mouse

Taxonomy. Mus forresti Thomas, 1906,

Alexandria Station, Northern Territory, Australia .

Leggadina is sister to a paraphyletic clade that includes Pseudomys, Mastacomys, and Notomys . L. forresti was recognized as a species within Pseudomys by H.A. Longman in 1916, within Leggadina by T. Iredale and E. L. G. Troughton in 1934, transferred back to Pseudomys by W. D. L. Ride in 1970, and finally returned to Leggadina by J. A. Mahoney and B. J. Richardson in 1988 and kept there by all subsequent authors. Named forms Pseudomys (Leggadina) messorius, Pseudomys (Leggadina) waitei, and Gyomys berneyi were synonymized within forrest: by Ride in 1970 and by all authors since then. Monotypic.

Distribution. Widespread in low-rainfall areas in C Australia, including C & S Northern Territory, inland Queensland, extreme WC Western Australia, N South Australia, and NW New South Wales.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 70-100 mm, tail 50-70 mm, ear 12-15 mm, hindfoot 15-19 mm; weight 13-30 g. The Central Short-tailed Mouse is a small species of native mouse with short, smooth fur. Dorsal pelage ranges from gray to light yellow brown penciled with darker black guard hairs throughout, giving it a grizzled appearance. There are small patches of white behind the ear and guard hairs seem to be more prominent along the back, rump and shoulders and the head is relatively dark while the sides are lighter. Ventral pelage is white and sharply demarcated from the dorsum. Ears are small, rounded and a pinkish brown. Feet are white and small with elongated hindfeet. Tail is less than ¢.70% of head-body length, lightly covered in short hairs, and bicolored, being gray above and a significantly paler gray below. Skull is flat on top with a short rostrum, being distinguished from the Norther Short-tailed Mouse

( L. lakedownensis) by havingincisive foramen that narrow posteriorly, smaller M3, and more backward pointing upper incisors. Females have two pairs of inguinal mammae. Chromosomal complement is 2n = 48; FN = 52.

Habitat. The Central Short-tailed Mouse is found in a broad range of habitats, particularly tussock grasslands and chenopod shrublands, and less characteristically inhummock grasslands and open woodlands. It occurs mostly on clay, loam, and stony soils.

Food and Feeding. This Central Short-tailed Mouse is omnivorous; it mostly eats seeds, but diet also includes leaf and stem material and invertebrates.

Breeding. Breeding may occur throughout the year, and may be triggered by rainfall events. Usual litter size is 3—4.

Activity patterns. Central Short-tailed Mice are terrestrial and nocturnal. They shelter during the day in shallow burrows (to 40 cm long), containing nests mostly of grass.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Central Short-tailed Mice are typically solitary, but limited information exists on territoriality and social systems. Populations may fluctuate in response to highor low-rainfall periods, but notto the extreme “boom-bust” extent that many other Australian desert rodents do. Individuals have been reported as moving more than 1 km in a night, and low recapture of marked individuals suggests some nomadic movements.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Feral cats prey selectively on this species,taking it at a disproportionately high rate relative to its abundance.

Bibliography. Baverstock et al. (1977), Breed & Ford (2007), Iredale & Troughton (1934), Jackson & Groves (2015), Longman (1916), Mahoney & Richardson (1988), Philpott & Smyth (1967), Read (1984), Ride (1970), Spencer et al. (2014), Van Dyck & Strahan (2008), Watts & Aslin (1981).