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Listing Advice and Included This Species in the Extinct Category, Effective from 03/03/2021 Listing Advice Conilurus Capricornensis

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Listing Advice and Included This Species in the Extinct Category, Effective from 03/03/2021 Listing Advice Conilurus Capricornensis THREATENED SPECIES SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The Minister approved this listing advice and included this species in the Extinct category, effective from 03/03/2021 Listing Advice Conilurus capricornensis Capricorn Rabbit-rat Taxonomy Conventionally accepted as Conilurus capricornensis Cramb & Hocknull, 2010. Summary of assessment Conservation status Following a listing assessment of Conilurus capricornensis (Capricorn Rabbit-rat), the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee) has determined that there is sufficient evidence to list the Capricorn Rabbit-rat in the Extinct category under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Species can be listed under state and territory legislation. For information on the listing status of this species under relevant state or territory legislation, see http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi- bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl Reason for listing assessment by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee This advice follows assessment of new information provided to the Committee to list the Capricorn Rabbit-rat. Public consultation Notice of the proposed amendment and a consultation document was made available for public comment for 31 business days between 31 July 2020 and 11 September 2020. Any comments received that were relevant to the listing of the species were considered by the Committee as part of the assessment process. Species/sub-species information Description No description of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is available. The species is known only from skull and dental fragments. However, by comparing the remains with other species in the Conilurus genus, it is believed to have been similar to the extant C. penicillatus (Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat) (Cramb & Hocknull 2010), which is a small-medium sized rodent (100−250 g) with a thickset body, long tail (100−240 mm), and long rabbit-like ears (Woinarski & Hill 2012). Distribution No historical distribution has been assigned to the Capricorn Rabbit-rat (Woinarski et al. 2014a). Remains have been recorded at four sites: two that are inland from Townsville, north-east Queensland, and two that are close to Rockhampton, mid-east Queensland. The dominant vegetation around these sites today is dry rainforest patches (deciduous and semi-evergreen vine thicket) within a matrix of savanna sclerophyll woodland and grassland (Hansman 2001; Cramb & Hocknull 2010). Conilurus capricornensis (Capricorn Rabbit-rat) Listing Advice Page 1 of 8 Extinction date The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is unknown. Dating of some of the remains suggests that the species was still extant after European settlement in Australia (Cramb & Hocknull 2010; Woinarski et al. 2014a). Relevant biology/ecology Almost nothing is known about the biology of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat. However, the morphological similarities between the Capricorn Rabbit-rat and the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat (in particular the noted similarity in dentition between the two species) suggests that they may have had a similar ecology (Cramb & Hocknull 2010). The Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat is distributed across the tropical woodlands and open forests of northern Australia. It is semi-arboreal, feeding on the ground, while roosting in tree hollows and hollow logs. Its diet consists mostly of seeds and other plant materials collected during night-time foraging trips (Firth et al. 2010). Threats The causes of decline and extinction of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat are unknown. However, likely contributing factors are surmised from threats known to have occurred shortly after European settlement in Australia. The assumption has been made that the threats that affect many conilurine rodents (particularly the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat) would also have impacted on the Capricorn Rabbit-rat. Table 1: Probable causes of decline towards extinction for the Capricorn Rabbit-rat in approximate order of impact, based on available evidence. Threat factor Threat type and status Evidence base Introduced predators Predation by Suspected past Feral cats are thought to have been present feral cats (Felis throughout the majority of eastern Queensland by catus) the mid-19th century (Abbott 2008). The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is unknown, but if a population was still extant when feral cats arrived in Queensland, cats would have impacted on its survival. Predation by feral cats has been implicated in the extinction and ongoing decline of many terrestrial, non-volant, mammal species (Dickman 1993; Smith & Quin 1996; Woinarski et al. 2014d; Woinarski et al. 2015; Hardman et al. 2016; Davies et al. 2017; Radford et al. 2018; Woolley et al. 2019). Abundance of the feral cat has been found to be the best predictor of decline of conilurine rodents (Smith & Quin 1996) and Woinarski et al. (2014d) considered predation by feral cats to be the most critical factor in the decline and extirpation of Australia’s mammal fauna. Intense fire and heavy grazing can amplify the impacts of predation on small and medium-sized mammals by reducing ground cover (Smith & Quinn 1996; Leahy et al. 2015). The number of predators attracted to the burnt area (Hradsky et al. 2017), predator activity (Leahy et al. 2015), Conilurus capricornensis (Capricorn Rabbit-rat) Listing Advice Page 2 of 8 and hunting success (McGregor et al. 2015) have all been observed to increase where habitat has been modified through fire or grazing. Therefore, the threat from predation would have increased as European settlement spread throughout the species’ distribution. Predation by Suspected past The European red fox first arrived in Queensland European red around 1907−1910 (Gentle 2006). fox (Vulpes vulpes) The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is unknown, but if a population was still extant when foxes arrived in Queensland, foxes would have impacted on its survival. Predation by foxes has been implicated in the extinction and decline of many terrestrial, non-volant, mammal species in Australia (Richards 2004; DEWHA 2008; Woinarski et al. 2014d; Woinarski et al. 2015; Radford et al. 2018) and was identified by Smith & Quin (1996) as having a significant impact on small isolated populations of threatened species, being able to eliminate them even at low densities. As identified above, fire and heavy grazing by introduced herbivores can amplify the impacts of predation on small and medium-sized mammals (Leahy et al. 2015; McGregor et al. 2015; Hradsky et al. 2017). Fire Change in fire Suspected past The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is regime unknown, but if a population was still extant at the time of an extensive change to the fire regime in Queensland, an altered fire-regime may have impacted on its survival. After European settlement, fires may have become more extensive and more intense. These burns homogenised the understorey vegetation, reduced food variety and availability, destroyed log and tree hollow den sites (Firth et al. 2010) and increased predator activity (Smith & Quinn 1996; Johnson 2006; Fitzsimons et al. 2010; Leahy et al. 2015; McGregor et al. 2015; Hradsky et al. 2017). The degree to which a change in fire regime impacted the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is unknown. However, extensive, high intensity fires are believed to be a prime cause of small mammal decline in northern Australia (Woinarski et al. 2001) and are identified as the major cause of decline of the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat (Firth et al. (2010). Conilurus capricornensis (Capricorn Rabbit-rat) Listing Advice Page 3 of 8 Habitat loss and fragmentation Habitat Suspected past By the mid-19th century nearly all of the areas degradation and suitable for rangeland pastoralism in eastern resource Queensland were settled (Fensham 2008), with depletion by grazing rising to a peak in 1894 (Irvin 2016). livestock The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is unknown, but if a population was still extant when pastoralism arrived in Queensland, habitat degradation caused by pastoralism would have impacted on its survival. Grazing by stock may have removed vegetation that provided shelter and comprised part of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat’s diet (Dennis 2001; McDowell et al. 2015). Grazing may have also degraded or destroyed potential refuges for native species during times of drought (Tunbridge 1993; Morton et al. 1995). Habitat Suspected past European rabbits are thought to have spread degradation and throughout much of Queensland by 1920 (Stodart resource & Parer 1988). depletion by introduced The extinction date of the Capricorn Rabbit-rat is European unknown, but if a population was still extant when rabbits rabbits arrived in Queensland, rabbits may have (Oryctolagus impacted on its survival. cuniculus) Rabbits compete with native fauna for food and degrade the habitat by intensively grazing on vegetation and ringbarking trees. In large numbers, rabbits turn areas of productive, well-vegetated country into a virtual desert, greatly impacting sympatric mammals (Johnson 2006). Where rabbits are found in abundance, conilurine rodents experience significantly greater reductions in population than in areas which have fewer rabbits (Smith & Quin 1996). Rabbits, with high standing biomass and high rate of increase, provide abundant prey for predators as native mammal species decline. Therefore, rabbit presence supports elevated predator populations and predation pressures on native species. Also, native species are easier to catch, being without the appropriate
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