Critically Endangered
Central rock rat
Zyzomys pedunculatus
The central rock rat, also known as the central thick-tailed rock-rat, Macdonnell Range rock-rat, and Australian native mouse, is a critically endangered species of rodent in the family Muridae, endemic to Australia.
Appearance
Their fur is a light mustard above with a pale underbelly. Rock rats are known to lose their tails, fur and skin very easily and are, therefore, known to be difficult to handle.
It was first described as Conilurus pedunculatus in 1896 by E.R.
Range and habitat
The rats have been found in rocky outcrops and on mountainsides with loose stones, as well as hilly grasslands and low open shrubland or woodland. Historically, the central rock rat is only known to be found in a 77 km (48 mi) stretch of the West MacDonnell Ranges, Northern Territory. The species has previously been recorded from living animals or cave deposits in Northern Territory at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Illamurta (James Range), Haasts Bluff (West MacDonnell Ranges), Mount Liebig, Napperby Station, Devils Marbles, The Granites (Tanami Desert), and the Davenport Range National Park.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
The diet of the central rock rat consists of four major food groups that can be found across all seasons. The rest of its diet consists of plant leaves (21%), plant stems (3%), and insects (4%).
In crisis
The rat's predators can also give insight on how the species is recovering. The excrement of feral cats near the location site often includes the fur and bone skeletons of the central rock rat. Between 1970 and 1995, there were no recorded sightings of the species and it was declared that this species was indeed extinct.
Since that time sub-populations have been found at 15 other sites over a small area of the West MacDonnell Ranges.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix II. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Central rock rat is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Central rock rat, Wikidata item Q1766478. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
