Melomys cervinipes (Gould 1852)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Muridae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1189-1531 : 1376

Melomys cervinipes (Gould 1852)

[Melomys] cervinipes (Gould 1852) , Mamm. Aust., pt. 4, 3: pl. 14.

Type Locality: Australia, Queensland, Stradbrook Isl (as indicated by Thomas’ lectotype designation; see Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:162).

Vernacular Names: Fawn-footed Melomys.

Synonyms: Melomys banfieldi (De Vis 1907) ; Melomys bunya Tate 1951 ; Melomys eboreus Thomas 1924 ; Melomys limicauda Troughton 1935 ; Melomys pallidus Troughton and Le Souef 1929 .

Distribution: Australia; extant range is closed forest and more open habitat along the E Australian coast from Cooktown region of Cape York in Queensland south to Gosford area of New South Wales ( Watts and Aslin, 1981:79; Redhead, 1995 a:636). Late Pleistocene specimens indicate distribution once extended farther south to the Pyramids Cave region in Victoria ( Wakefield, 1972 a).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Anatomy of male reproductive tract and spermatozoa reported by Breed and Sarafis (1978), Morrissey and Breed (1982), and Breed (1984, 1986). Chromosomal morphology, G-banding homologies, and results of electrophoretic analyses presented by Baverstock et al. (1977 c, 1980, 1981, 1983 b), who (1980) reported that M. cervinipes is phylogenetically close to M. capensis but electrophoretically distant, having experienced a rapid rate of protein evolution relative to M. capensis and M. burtoni . Reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981) and Redhead (1995 a).