The Carpentarian rock rat (''Zyzomys palatalis'') is a species of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are either the largest or second-largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 870 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. ...

. It is found only in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Taxonomy

The description of the species was published by

Darrell Kitchener Darrell John Kitchener (born 1943) is a biologist who has been active in mammalian research in Western Australia and Indonesia. He is the author of over one hundred papers, published while employed as the senior research biologist at the Western ...

in 1989, emerging from a revision of the genus ''

Zyzomys ''Zyzomys'' is a genus of rodents with unusually thick, long tails. Five species of the genus are known in Australia, where they are called rock rats or thick-tailed rats. The genus was classified by Oldfield Thomas, Michael Rogers Oldfield Tho ...

''. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was a pregnant female, collected at Wollogorang Station, in a deep ravine called Echo Gorge. The sandstone environment of the type location was an association of plants that included '' Eucalyptus dichromophloia''. The specific epithet ''palatis'' is derived from Latin, and refers to the characteristic morphology of their palate.

Description

It is a small and compact conilurine rodent. Its fur is grey-brown above and pale below. The tail is used to store fat at its base, making it carrot-shaped; the skin of the tail is fragile and easily damaged by handling. The average weight of individuals is about 120 g.

Distribution and habitat

It has a very limited range, being currently known from only five localities within the Wollogorang Station pastoral lease of 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 ...

, close to the border with

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 ...

, near 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 ...

. Crucial habitat characteristics are rugged

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

gorges with a cover of dry monsoon vine-thicket or tropical woodland, and with access to permanent water.

Conservation

The estimated size of the wild population of this species is less than 2000. The main threat is from hot, late dry-season, fires. It is classified as being

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

. It is subject to conservation management, including a captive breeding program at the Territory Wildlife Park. The captive colony from the Territory Wildlife Park has aided in a small study performed to improve health assessments of captive and wild Carpentarian rock rat populations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1767028 Zyzomys Mammals described in 1989 Taxa named by Darrell Kitchener Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Rodents of Australia