Extension to the known range of the Fawn Hopping-mouse Notomys cervinus in New South Wales

Murray Ellis RZS Mammal Section, P.O. Box 20, Mosman NSW 2088

The Fawn Hopping-mouse Notomys ceruinur The Fawn Hopping-mouse is poorly known, has been recorded from the Northern but is regarded as an animal of clay pans and Territory, Queensland, South Australia and gibber plains (Watts and Aslin 1981) where it New South Wales as a living animal. It has also lives in shallow burrows in small groups. The Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-pdf/29/1-2/77/1475215/az_1993_006.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 been recorded in subfossil material from owl pellets were located in quartzitelsandstone Western Australia (Watts and Aslin 1981). The ridges surrounded by alluvial deltas. The bulk of the modern records have come from surrounding plains contain more suitable the far north east of South Australia (Watts habitat in the form of gibber-covered plains and Aslin 198 1) and south western Queensland supporting low chenopod shrublands, (Ingram and Raven 1991). Charles Sturt interspersed with some claypans. This diversity collected this species in the north west of New of landforms within the hunting range of the South Wales in what is now Sturt National Park owls explains the presence of at least three during his expedition of the 1840s. These species of Notmnys, including the Long-tailed animals formed the basis of Gould's painting Hopping Mouse N. lonpicaudatur, in the of the species (Sturt 1847). However, Sturt's deposits. Similar situations with a diversity of and Gould's descriptions of the animals and landforms and Notomys species have been their captures could indicate that several recorded in South Australia and the Northern species ("varieties" in Gould 1845-63) were Territory (Watts and Aslin 1981). involved. The Mootwingee locality is about 300 km Subfossil bone material from owl pellets has from the Sturt (1847) records, a similar been collected from Mootwingee National Park distance from the subfossil remains of N.ce7-- (Ellis et al. 1991). Intact and disintegrating vzllus in the Flinders Ranges (Tunbridge 1991), pellets have been found in both the Gap and and about twice that distance from the bulk of Byugnano Ranges within the park. Based on the modern records (Fig 1.). The lack of recent the age of similar deposits in the Flinders records from New South Wales and the Ranges of South Australia (Smith 1977), and Flinders Ranges indicates that this species has the presence of bones of the introduced House undergone a massive range reduction follow- Mouse Mimusculns, these deposits are esti- ing European settlement of these areas. mated to date from post-European settlement Without further subfossil deposits being of the region. found and analysed, or new captures being Among these bones is a number of small made, it is impossible to say how much further Notomys skulls. Some of these were assigned to east and south than Mootwingee the species the Fawn Hopping-mouse (N. cerumur) due to once extended into New South Wales. the groove on the front of the incisors. This Wakefield (1966) did not regard N. ceruinus as feature, in combination with the shape of the a Victorian species and Krefft (1866) did not anterior palatal foramina, is described by Watts record it at the junction of the Darling and and Aslin (1981) as being diagnostic of the Murray Rivers during his intensive study of the species. The only other species with such a area. In Krefft's estimation the Bilby ~Macrotir groove is the Big-eared Hopping-mouse lagotis had become recently extinct in that area (N. macrotis) known only from the coast by the time of his visit in 1857. The presence of Western Australia. The remaining skulls of Mitchell's Hopping-mouse in abundance, can not be assigned to a species, with the along with three other small rodent species, in Spinifex Hopping-mouse N. ale&, the Dusky Krefft's survey suggests that a local extinction Hopping-mouse N, ficus, and Mitchell's for N. ceruinur is unlikely to have occurred by Hopping-mouse N. mitchelli being possibilities. 1857. Thus it seems that N. ceruinus did not Separation of these smaller species by skull range as far south as the Victorian border. characters cannot be done with certainty 'There are no clues to its former eastern limits (Watts and Aslin 1981). at present.

Australian Zooiogisi, Voi. 29(1-2) 77 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INGRAM,G. J. AND RAVEN,R. J., 1991. An Alhiof @emland's frog^, Rcprilrs, Bid and Mammnlr. Queensland I would like to thank Linda Gibson and Tim Museum: Brisbane. Flannery for granting me access to the Aust- KREFFT,G.. 1866. On the venebrated animals of rhe lower ralian Museum collections and space to work; Murray and Darling, their habits, economy and geog- the members of the RZS Mammal Section who raphical distribution. 'From. Phil. Sm. NSW 1862-65: attended the two field trips to collect the sub- 1-33. fossil remains of the Mootwingee fauna; an SMITH,M. J., 1977. The remains of Mammals, including Nolmy hpicaudalur (Could) (Rodentia: Muridae), in anonymous referee for finding my mistakes; owl pellets from the Flinders Ranges, SA. Awt Wildl. and Elizabeth Ashby for trying to turn my Rer. 4: 158-70. words into English sentences. STURT,C., 1847. Nonative ofan Expedition into Cmhd Awt- raltn. Greenwood Press: New York. REFERENCES TuNBnlDcE, D., 1991. Thr Stq of the FlindRs Ranger AND ELLIS,M., WILSON,P. HAMILTON,S., 1991. The Golden Mammnlr. Kangaroo Press: Sydney. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/australian-zoologist/article-pdf/29/1-2/77/1475215/az_1993_006.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Bandicoot, Isoodon auralrrs Ramsay 1887, in western New South Wales during European times. Awl Zool. 47: WAKEFIELD,N. A., 1966. Mammals recorded for rhe Mallee, 3637. Victoria. Proc. Roy. Sm. Vi. 79: 627-36.

GOULD,J., 184543. Could's Aurtralin. MacMillan Facsimile WATTS,C. H. S AND ASLIN,H. J., 1981. The Rodents o/Aurt- Edition in 1977: Sydney. rolin. Angus and Robenson: Sydney.

Fig 1. The published distribution of the Fawn Hopping-mouse N. ceruinw shown as dots (Watrs and Aslin 1981: lngram and Raven 1991). with the location of the new record shown as a star. The stippling shows the distribution according to Watts and Aslin (1981).

78 Australian Zoologist, Vol. 29(7-2) August 1993