Species Zyzomys argurus (Thomas, 1889)

Museums

Regional Maps

• Mus argurus Thomas, O. 1889. Description of a new species of Mus from South Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6 3: 433-435 [433] [the Northern Territory was brought under the jurisdiction of South Australia on 6 July 1863 and remained under its control until 1 Jan. 1911, when it was surrended to the Commonwealth; contemporary maps showing the territorial divisions of Australia in 1863–1910 commonly have the South Australian boundary drawn to include the Nothern Territory].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 86.8.26.6 ♂ skin (wet) & skull, probably NT (as South Australia).
• Mesembriomys argurus indutus Thomas, O. 1909. Some mammals from N.E. Kimberley, Northern Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 3: 149-152 [151].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 9.4.23.3 ♂ skin & skull, Parry Creek, WA, 20 ft (altitude from skin label).

 

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] [191]

 

Distribution

IBRA and IMCRA regions

IBRA

NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gascoyne (GAS), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Australian Region

• Australia
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal

Ecological Descriptors

Folivore, granivore, open forest, subtropical, terrestrial, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

Always found associated with rocky outcrops.

 

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

Begg, R.J. 1981. The small mammals of Little Nourlangie Rock, N.T. IV. Ecology of Zyzomys woodwardi, the Large Rock-rat, and Z. argurus, the Common Rock-rat, (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Wildlife Research 8: 307-320

Begg, R.J. & Dunlop, C.H. 1985. The diets of the large rock-rat, Zyzomys woodwardi, and the common rock-rat, Z. argurus (Rodentia: Muridae). Australian Wildlife Research 12: 19-24

Bradley, A.J., Kemper, C.M., Kitchener, D.J., Humphreys, W.F., How, R.A. & Schmitt, L.H. 1988. Population ecology and physiology of the common rock rat, Zyzomys argurus (Rodentia, Muridae) in tropical northwestern Australia. Journal of Mammalogy 69: 749-764

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

Calaby, J.H. & Taylor, J.M. 1983. Breeding in wild populations of the Australian rock rats, Zyzomys argurus and Z. woodwardi. Journal of Mammalogy 64: 610-616

Calver, M.C., King, D.R., Gardner, J.L. & Martin, G.R. 1991. Total food consumption of some native Australian small mammals in the laboratory. Australian Mammalogy 14: 139-141

Claridge, A.W. & May, T.W. 1994. Mycophagy among Australian mammals. Australian Journal of Ecology 19: 251-275

Eddie, C. 2002. Southerly range extension for common rock-rat Zyzomys argurus (Rodentia: Muridae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 48: 154

Fleming, M.R. 1995. Common Rock-rat Zyzomys argurus. pp. 620-621 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Kitchener, D.J. 1989. Taxonomic appraisal of Zyzomys (Rodentia, Muridae) with descriptions of two new species from the Northern Territory, Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 14: 331-373

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.

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

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

Weaver, H.J. & Smales, L.R. 2009. The parasite assemblages of Zyzomys argurus (Thomas, 1889) (Muridae : Murinae) from northern Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 57: 429-432

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study (Common Rock-rat)