Australian Biological Resources Study

Australian Faunal Directory

Species Conilurus penicillatus (Gould, 1842)

Museums

Regional Maps

CAVS: 1425

Species Conilurus penicillatus (Gould, 1842)

Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat, Brush-tailed Tree-rat

Introduction

Mahoney (1988) listed synonyms under C. penicillatus rather than subspecies.

 

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

On islands in Gulf of Carpentaria.


Note that conversion of the original AFD map of states, drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones to IBRA and IMCRA regions may have produced errors. The new maps will be reviewed and corrected as updates occur. The maps may not indicate the entire distribution. See further details below.
IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)
drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones (map not available)

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

  • Australia
    • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
    • Queensland: N Gulf
    • Western Australia: N coastal
  • Papua New Guinea

Ecological Descriptors

Herbivore, open forest, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

May also feed on termites.

 

General References

Baverstock, P.R., Watts, C.H.S. & Hogarth, J.T. 1977. Chromosome evolution in Australian rodents I. The Pseudomyinae, the Hydromyinae and the Uromys/Melomys Group. Chromosoma (Berlin) 61: 95-125

Baverstock, P.R., Watts, C.H.S., Adams, M. & Cole, S.R. 1981. Genetical relationships among Australian rodents (Muridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 29: 289-303

Braithwaite, R.W. & Muller, W.J. 1997. Rainfall, groundwater and refuges: predicting extinctions of Australian tropical mammal species. Australian Journal of Ecology 22: 57-67

Breed, W.J. & Sarafis, V. 1979. On the phylogenetic significance of spermatozoal morphology and male reproductive tract anatomy in Australian rodents. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 103: 127-135

Firth, R.S.C. 2003. Activity range and den trees of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat on Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory, Australia. pp. 99-102 in Singleton, G.R., Hinds, L.A., Krebs, C.K. & Spratt, D.M. (eds). Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management. Canberra : Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research

Firth, R.S.C. 2004. Carpet python (Morelia spilota variegata) predation on the brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatu melibus) on Melville Island, Northern Territory. Herpetofauna 34(2): 105-106

Firth, R.S.C., Jeffrey, E., Woinarski, J.C.Z. & Noske, R.A. 2005. The diet of the brush-tailed rabbit-rat (Conilurus penicillatus) from the monsoonal tropics of the Northern Territory, Australia. Wildlife Research 32: 517-523

Kemper, C.M. 1995. Brush-tailed Tree-rat Conilurus penicillatus. pp. 553-554 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Kemper, C.M. & Schmitt, L.H. 1988. Inheritance of tail colour and white-spotting in Conilurus penicillatus (Muridae). Australian Journal of Biological Sciences 41: 489-494

Kemper, C.M. & Schmitt, L.H. 1992. Morphological variation between populations of the brushtailed tree rat (Conilurus penicilllatus) in northern Australia and New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology 40: 437-452

Kitchener, D.J., Keller, L.E., Chapman, A., McKenzie, N.L., Start, A.N. & Kenneally, K.F. 1981. Observations on Mammals of the Mitchell Plateau area, Kimberley, Western Australia. pp. 123–169 in, Biological Survey of Mitchell Plateau and Admiralty Gulf, Kimberley, Western Australia. Papers resulting from a joint field expedition to Mitchell Plateau, Kimberley, by the Western Australia Museum, Perth, and the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, U.S.A., 1976–1977. 274 pp.

Mahoney, J.A. in Walton, D.W. (ed.) 1988. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service x 274 pp. [Date published 13/Apr/1988] [155]

Morrissey, B.L. & Breed, W.G. 1982. Variation in external morphology of the glans penis of Australian native rodents. Australian Journal of Zoology 30: 495-502

Taylor, J.M. & Horner, B.E. 1971. Reproduction in the Australian tree-rat Conilurus penicillatus (Rodentia: Muridae). CSIRO Wildlife Research 16: 1-9

Watts, C.H.S. 1982. Australian hydromyine rodents: maintenance of captive colonies. pp. 180-184 in Evans, D.D. (ed.). The Management of Australian Mammals in Captivity. Proceedings of the Scientific Meeting of the Australian Mammal Society, Healesville, Victoria, February 1979. Melbourne : Zoological Board of Victoria 194 pp.

Watts, C.H.S. & Aslin, H.J. 1981. The Rodents of Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xii 321 pp. 16 pls

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat)

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [111] (Brush-tailed Tree-rat)