The black-footed tree-rat (''Mesembriomys gouldii''), also known as Djintamoonga, is one of two

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Australian rodent species in the genus ''

Mesembriomys ''Mesembriomys'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Australia. It contains the following species: * Black-footed tree-rat (''M. gouldii'') * Golden-backed tree-rat The golden-backed tree rat (''Mesembriomys macrurus'') is ...

.'' Both the black-footed tree-rat and its congener, the

golden-backed tree-rat The golden-backed tree rat (''Mesembriomys macrurus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, found only in Australia. Its native range was across Northern Australia, but it has since become extinct from these regions. It is now only fo ...

('' M. macrurus''), are found in northern Australia. The species is one of the largest murids found in Australia. Haematological and blood chemistry research has been performed on the black-footed tree-rat to aid in the captive and natural management of Australian native murids held in captivity for conservation purposes.

Description

The tree-rat has a greyish-brown coat that is shaggy and coarse and has a creamy white underbelly. The hind feet are black with well developed pads and strong sharp claws. They have large ears and a long tail with a brush of white hair at the tip. They grow to a mass of . The head and body length of the tree-rat is typically with a tail length of . Three subspecies of the black-footed tree-rat have been recognised, based on minor morphological differences in skull and foot shape, as well as variation in colouration. Research into the population genomics of the species agrees with the subspecific delimitation, with the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

separating the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

subspecies from the other mainland subspecies found in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and Western Australia. The third subspecies is found on Melville Island in the Northern Territory.

Behaviour

The black-footed tree-rat is typically solitary and

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

, although multiple individuals can sometimes be found denning in the same hollow or fallen log. Individuals are semi-

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, but spend time on the ground foraging or moving between trees. The species typically shelters in tree hollows (typically

Eucalyptus miniata ''Eucalyptus miniata'', commonly known as the Darwin woollybutt or woolewoorrng, is a species of medium-sized to tall tree that is Endemism, endemic to northern Australia. It has rough, fibrous, brownish bark on the trunk, smooth greyish bark ab ...

or E. tetrodonta) and

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

stands during the day. Individuals have a mean home range area of about 40 hectares, although this can vary considerably.

Feeding

It is a

folivore In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1 ...

and

frugivore A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

and its diet may be supplemented by

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s such as

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

s and

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

Distribution

''Mesembriomys gouldii'' has a range extending from the

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

s of

Cape York Peninsula The Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth's last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación Sierra Madre, ...

westward to the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s such as tropical woodlands or open forest are suitable for the tree rat, although it persists well in the more complex coastal vine thickets and closed forests. It is not common in many areas and many geographic regions show substantial population declines. One study in the Northern Territory found that the extent of occurrence had declined by over 30% compared to the pre-European distribution, and that breadth of occupied environmental space had declined by over 40%. The same study observed that the species was contracting to areas of higher rainfall, milder temperatures, and higher vegetation complexity than it was present in historically. Genetic estimation of effective population size trajectories in four black-footed tree-rat populations showed that most populations are undergoing severe declines, although the population around the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory appears to have been more stable. The estimated global population is 30,000, although the distribution and density is poorly known in Western Australia and Queensland, where records are far more sparse.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Topi Pigula http://zoommagazin.iprima.cz/priroda/vedci-jasaji-nad-obri-krysou-ma-cerne-tlapky-zije-na-stromech http://zoommagazin.iprima.cz/ Czech TV Prima ZOOM – article about endangered rat] *Musser, G. G. and M. D. Carleton. 2005. Superfamily Muroidea. pp. 894–1531 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1763261 Mesembriomys Mammals of the Northern Territory Mammals of Queensland Rodents of Australia Mammals described in 1843 Mammals of Western Australia