Species Melomys burtoni (Ramsay, 1887)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mus burtoni Ramsay, E.P. 1887. Description of three new species of mammals from north west Australia. Abstr. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. for August 31st, 1887: vi.

  Type data:

   Holotype AM S427 skull (skin not found in AM), neighbourhood of Derby, WA.

  Type locality references:

  Ramsay, E.P. 1887. Description of two new species of marsupials (Perameles and Antechinus) and of a new species of Mus (M. burtoni), from the neighbourhood of Derby, N.W.A. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 2: 551-553 pl. 17 [551].
• Uromys melicus Thomas, O. 1913. Some new species of Uromys. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 12: 212-217 [215].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 13.6.28.32 ♀ skin & skull, Biro, Apsley Strait, Melville Is., NT, sea level (trapped in the mangroves).
• Uromys lutillus Thomas, O. 1913. Some new species of Uromys. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 12: 212-217 [216] [recorded from Australia by Ride, W.D.L. 1970. A Guide to the Native Mammals of Australia. Melbourne : Oxford Univ. Press xiv 249 pp. 62 pls [156]].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 5.11.28.20 ♂ skin & skull, Owgarra, Angabunga River, Papua New Guinea.

  Compiled from secondary source:

   Ride, W.D.L. 1970. A Guide to the Native Mammals of Australia. Melbourne : Oxford University Press xiv 249 pp. 62 pls.
• Uromys murinus Thomas, O. 1913. Some new species of Uromys. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 12: 212-217 [216].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 99.9.10.3 ♀ skin & skull, Maer Is. (as Mer), Murray Ils, Torres Strait, QLD.
• Uromys littoralis Lönnberg, E. 1916. Results of Dr. E. Mjöberg's Scientific Expeditions to Australia 1910–1913. II. Mammals from Queensland. 1. List of mammals. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Academiens Nya Handlingar, Stockholm 52(2): 3-11 [18 Jan. 1916] [5].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) NHRM A58/2040 ♀ skin & skull, the beach near the mouth of Russell (as Russel) River, QLD; whereabouts unknown (other syntypes not found in NHRM), the beach near the mouth of Russell (as Russel) River, QLD.
• Melomys australius Thomas, O. 1924. Some new Australasian Muridae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9 13: 296-299 [298].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 15.3.5.51 ♀ skin & skull, Piara, QLD 20 m (altitude from skin label).
• Melomys littoralis insulae Troughton, E. le G. & Le Souef, A.S. 1929. New forms of mosaic-tailed rats (Melomys and Uromys) from Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland. The Australian Zoologist 6: 96-99 [96].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M4382 ♂ skin & skull, Hinchinbrook Is., QLD.
• Melomys mixtus Troughton, E. le G. 1935. Five new rats of the genera Hydromys and Melomys from northern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum 19: 251-258 [257].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M5397 ♂ skin & skull, Groote Eylandt, NT.
• Melomys callopes Finlayson, H.H. 1943. A new Melomys from Queensland with notice of two other Queensland rats. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 66: 243-247 pls 8-9 [243].

  Type data:

   Holotype whereabouts unknown ♀ skin & skull not found in SAMA, about 30 miles SW of Duaringa, QLD.
• Melomys cervinipes albiventer Kellogg, R. 1945. A new Australian naked-tailed rat (Melomys). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 58: 69-71 [69].

  Type data:

   Holotype USNM 237782 ♂ skin & skull, Douglas River, about 100 miles S of Port Darwin.

  Type locality references:

  Johnson, D.H. 1964. Mammals of the Arnhem Land Expedition. 427-515 pls 1-16 in Specht, R.L. (ed.). Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Zoology. Parkville : Melbourne University Press Vol. 4 xvii 533 pp. [490].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• 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] [161]

 

Distribution

Extra Distribution Information

Occurs on many offshore islands.

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Burrowing, coastal, folivore, granivore, open forest, subtropical, terrestrial, tussock grassland, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

In habitats with grassy understorey.

 

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

Baverstock, P.R., Watts, C.H.S., Adams, M. & Gelder, M. 1980. Chromosomal and electrophoretic studies of Australian Melomys (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 28: 553-574

Begg, R., Walsh, B., Woerle, F. & King, S. 1983. Ecology of Melomys burtoni, the grassland melomys (Rodentia: Muridae) at Cobourg Peninsula, N.T. Australian Wildlife Research 10: 259-267

Braithwaite, R.W. 1989. Shelter selection by a small mammal community in the wet-dry tropics of Australia. Australian Mammalogy 12: 55-59

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

Goosem, M, & Marsh, H. 1997. Fragmentation of a small-mammal community by a powerline corridor through tropical rainforest. Wildlife Research 24: 613-629

Kemper, C.M., Kitchener, D.J., Humphreys, W.F., How, R.A., Bradley, A.J. & Schmitt, L.H. 1987. The demography and physiology of Melomys spp. (Rodentia: Muridae) in the Mitchell Plateau area, Kimberley, Western Australia. Journal of Zoology (London) 212: 553-562

Kerle, J.A. 1995. Grassland Melomys Melomys burtoni. pp. 632-634 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Knox, E. 1978. A note on the identification of Melomys species (Rodentia: Muridae) in Australia. Journal of Zoology, London 185: 276-277

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

Robertson, L.N., Story, P.G., Wilson, J. & Egan, B.T. 1995. Integrated pest management for rodents in sugarcane. Proceedings of the 1995 Conference of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists held at Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, 2nd May to 5th May 1995. 70-74 pp.

Smith, G.C. 1985. Biology and habitat usage of sympatric populations of the fawn-footed melomys (Melomys cervinipes) and the grassland melomys (Melomys burtoni) (Rodentia: Muridae). The Australian Zoologist 21: 551-563

Taylor, J.M. & Horner, B.E. 1970. Reproduction in the mosaic-tailed rat, Melomys cervinipes (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Journal of Zoology 18: 171-184

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 (Grassland Melomys)