Notomys macrotis Thomas, 1921:538
Big-eared hopping-mouse, Big-eared western hopping-mouse, Large-eared hopping-mouse, noompa, bolong, bu-long, mar-do, bat-tong
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Notomys megalotis Iredale & Troughton, 1934:84
Conservation Status
Extinct (Burbidge, 2024)
Last record: 19 July 1843 or later (Ride, 1970:202); 1843 (Kitchener et al., 1980; Johnson, 2006:169; Lee et al., 2017)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
The Big-eared hopping mouse (Notomys macrotis) is only known from two damaged specimens held in the British Museum. One of which was collected by John Gilbert on 19 July, 1843, near New Norcia in the Moore River region (Ride, 1970:202). The other lacks locality data, and was purchased by the BMNH from John Gould's personal collection (Ibid.). It may very well have been collected at roughly the same time by Gilbert.
The writings of John Gilbert list three local aboriginal names for this species (Abbott, 2001), demonstrating aboriginal knowledge of the species.
It seems to be entirely absent from subfossil collections from localities throughout WA (Burbidge et al., 2009), indicating that it was a restricted endemic. However, although the last record of the species is more than 150 years ago, there was little collecting activity coincident with its presumably small range until well into the 1900's (Burbidge & Woinarski, 2016). So it's extinction chronology is virtually unknown, with predation by feral cats presumed to be responsible for its extinction.
Distribution
Moore River region, Western Australia, Australia
Type locality: "Moore River, W.A." (Mahoney & Richardson, 1988:168)
Anatomy & Morphology
Body mass: ~60gm (Johnson, 2006:169).
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Only known from two specimens, the holotype (BMNH 44.7.9.14) and paratype (BMNH 44.10.15.2), according to (Ride, 1970). But both are listed as the holotype's skin and skull, respectively, by (Mahoney & Richardson, 1988:168), who note that the species is "known only from two damaged specimens". Roycroft et al. (2021, 2022) list an historical skin from 1841) as part of their study (NHM 1841.1167).
Holotype: BMNH 44.7.9.14 (skin) / BMNH 44.10.15.2 (skull) (Mahoney & Richardson, 1988:168)
Other specimens:
NHM 1841.1167 (skin) (Roycroft et al. 2021, 2022)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Thomas, Oldfield. (1921). Notes on the species of Notomys, the Australian jerboa-rats. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Series 9, 8: 536-541.
Other references:
Abbott, Ian. (2001). Aboriginal names of mammals species in south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3(4): 433-486.
Abbott, I. 2002. Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion on the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna. Wildlife Research 29: 51-74. [relevant citation?]
Abbott, I. 2006. Mammalian faunal collapse in Western Australia, 1875-1925: the hypothesised role of epizootic disease and a conceptual model of its origin, introduction, transmission, and spread. Australian Zoologist 33: 530-561. [relevant reference?]
Abbott, I. 2008. The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7: 1-17. [relevant citation?]
Anonymous. (1973). Additional protection for rare fauna. S.W.A.N.S. 4(2): 31-33.
Anonymous. (1977). Terrestrial native mammals of Western Australia. S.W.A.N.S. 7(1): 7-8. [a mere listing as being native to WA]
Braithwaite, R. W., Morton, S. R., Burbidge, A. A. and Calaby, J. H. (1995). Australian names for Australian rodents. Australian Nature Conservation Agency in association with CSIRO Australia, Canberra.
Brazenor, C. W. (1934). A revision of the Australian jerboa mice. Mem. Natn. Mus. 8: 74-89. https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1934.8.04
Burbidge, A.A. 2004. Threatened animals of Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth.
Burbidge, Andrew A. (2024). Australian terrestrial mammals: how many modern extinctions? Australian Mammalogy. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM23037
Burbidge, Andrew A. and McKenzie, Norman L. (1989). Patterns in the modern decline of western Australia's vertebrate fauna: Causes and conservation implications. Biological Conservation 50(1-4): 143-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(89)90009-8
Burbidge, A.A., McKenzie, N.L., Brennan, K.E.C., Woinarski, J. C. Z., Dickman, C. R., Baynes, A., Gordon, G., Menkhorst, P.W. and Robinson, A.C. 2009. Conservation status and biogeography of Australia’s terrestrial mammals. Australian Journal of Zoology 56: 411-422.
Burbidge, A.A. & Woinarski, J. 2016. Notomys macrotis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T14865A22401041. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T14865A22401041.en. Downloaded on 10 March 2018.
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2011). Notomys macrotis in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:11:34 +1100.
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http://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/6988/notomys-macrotis-eared-hopping-mouse