Species Melomys cervinipes (Gould, 1852)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mus cervinipes Gould, J. 1852. The Mammals of Australia. London : J. Gould Part 4. [the date 1849 printed on the title page of Sturt, op. cit. is not the publication date of that work, see Mahoney, J.A. 1975. The identity and status of Thomas' 'lectotype' of Leporillus apicalis (Gould, 1853) [Rodentia: Muridae]. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 99: 101–104 [104]] [1 unnumbered page of text, 13th pl of Pt 4] [= Vol. 3 pl. 14].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 52.12.15.1 ♀ skin & skull, Stradbrook Is., QLD.
• Uromys banfieldi De Vis, C.W. 1907. An eccentric rat. Annals of the Queensland Museum 7: 8-9 [8].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) QM J22169 ♀ skin (wet) & skull, Dunk Is., QLD; whereabouts unknown (other syntypes not found in QM), Dunk Is., QLD.
• Melomys cervinipes eboreus Thomas, O. 1924. Some new Australasian Muridae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 9 13: 296-299 [297].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 22.12.18.11 ♂ skin & skull, Dinner Creek, Ravenshoe, QLD 2900 ft, 'on edge of dense scrub' on skin label.
• Melomys cervinipes pallidus 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 [97].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M4379 ♂ skin & skull, Hinchinbrook Is., QLD.
• Melomys limicauda 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 [255].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M5928 ♂ skin & skull, Hayman Is., Whitsunday Group, QLD.
• Melomys cervinipes bunya Tate, G.H.H. 1951. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 65 The rodents of Australia and New Guinea. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 97: 183-430 [293].

  Type data:

   Holotype AMNH 162618 ♀ skin & skull, rainforest bordering rest house, summit of Bunya Mts, QLD 3500 ft.

 

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

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NSW, Qld: Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, coastal, folivore, frugivore, mangroves, subtropical, tall open forest, terrestrial, territorial.

 

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

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

Heinsohn, G. & Heinsohn, R. 1999. Long-term dynamics of a rodent community in an Australian tropical rainforest. Wildlife Research 26: 187-198

Laurance, S.G.W. & Laurance, W.F. 1995. A ground-trapping survey for small mammals in continuous forest and two isolated tropical rainforest reserves. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38: 597-602

Laurence, W.F. 1994. Rainforest fragmentation and the structure of small mammal communities in tropical Queensland. Biological Conservation 69: 23-32

Leung, L.K.-P., Dickman, C.R. & Moore, L.A. 1993. Genetic variation in fragmented populations of an Australian rainforest rodent Melomys cervinipes. Pacific Conservation Biology 1: 58-65

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

Reddell, P., Spain, A.V. & Hopkins, M. 1997. Dispersal of spores of mycorrhizal fungi in scats of native mammals in tropical forests of northeastern Australia. Biotropica 29: 184-192

Redhead, T.D. 1995. Fawn-footed Melomys Melomys cervinipes. pp. 636-637 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 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

Wood, D.H. 1971. The ecology of Rattus fuscipes and Melomys cervinipes (Rodentia: Muridae) in a south-east Queensland rain forest. Australian Journal of Zoology 19: 371-392

Woodall, P.F. 1989. Habitat of Melomys cervinipes (Rodentia: Muridae) on Carlisle Island, central Queensland. Australian Mammalogy 12: 31-34

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Fawn-footed Melomys)