Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys Fuscus Research Articles

The diet of a Sooty Owl from Yarrangobilly Caves, NSW

ABSTRACT A total of 783 dietary items from a Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa with suspected partial xanthochromism (yellow plumage colouration) was identified from Yarrangobilly Caves, NSW. Observations of the owl at the cave and collection of feathers suggest that prey items accumulated between 2011 and 2018. A total of 12 mammal species was detected in the diet, with the Bush Rat Rattus fuscipes, Agile Antechinus Antechinus agilis, Sugar Glider Petaurus breviceps and Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus dominating. The diet also included three threatened species, the Eastern Pygmy Possum Cercartetus nanus, Smoky Mouse Pseudomys fumeus and Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys fuscus. The diversity of prey identified in the diet contrasts markedly with that found in studies of subfossil deposits from the area, supporting evidence of extensive mammal declines since European settlement.

Notice of and reasons for the Final Determination

The NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee, established under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (the Act), has made a Final Determination to list habitat degradation and loss by Feral Horses (brumbies, wild horses), Equus caballus Linnaeus 1758, as a Key Threatening Process in Schedule 4 of the Act. Listing of Key Threatening Processes is provided for by Part 4 of the Act. The Scientific Committee has found that: The following threatened plant species occur within the current range of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park and the neighbouring Bago State Forest: Stocky Galaxis Galaxis tantangara Freshwater Crayfish Euastacus rieki Alpine Tree Frog Littoria verreauxii alpina Guthega Skink Liopholis guthega Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys fuscus

Diet of the Broad-toothed RatMastacomys fuscus(Rodentia:Muridae) in the alpine zone of the Snowy Mountains, Australia

In seasonally snow-covered environments, larger mammalian species occurring above the snow have been shown to broaden diet breadth in winter, but below the snow in the subnivean space the relationship between snow cover and diet is quite different. The Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys fuscus, an Australian cold climate endemic, is a specialist herbivore. The diet of M. fuscus in the alpine zone of the Snowy Mountains was studied over the snow-free period and in winter. M. fuscus showed a preference for monocots over dicots throughout the year, however, there was a greater diversity and evenness of plant taxa in the diet in snow-free seasons. In winter, fewer species dominated the diet, reducing the evenness as well as the diversity. Because of lack of cover from predators in the snow-free period, M. fuscus is constrained to foraging in areas with shrub cover, where access to preferred grasses may be reduced. By contrast, in the subnivean space, because of the shelter provided by the cover of snow, M. fuscus c...

Is the altitudinal distribution of the Broad-toothed rat in Tasmania a result of the effects of Bennett's Wallaby?

The Broad-toothed Rat Mastacomys fuscus is infrequently recorded in Tasmania and was only recently discovered at altitudes >1000 m, although the species occurs on the Australian mainland at >2200 m. A survey of Tasmanian alpine habitat found evidence of M. fuscus within a metre or two of the summit of Cradle Mountain at 1545 m, the highest altitude recorded for M. fuscus within Tasmania. There was a negative relationship between the presence of Bennett's Wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) and M. fuscus at all sites. This is analogous to the absence of tall alpine herbfield as a plant community in Tasmania as a result of grazing by M. rufogriseus. At Cradle Mountain, M. fuscus occurred in alpine areas above rock barriers that prevented access by M. rufogriseus and hence allowed sufficient growth of grass to support populations of M. fuscus.This study further demonstrates the importance of M. rufogriseus in alpine ecosystems that lack a seasonal snow cover and raises the question of the potential impacts of M. ...

Broad-toothed rat, Mastacomys fuscus (Rodentia, Muridae), found in alpine heathland in Tasmania.

THE broad-toothed rat Mastacomys fuscus is a native, herbivorous rodent that occurs in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. On the Australian mainland the species has been recorded in several habitats at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1800 m. In alpine and sub-alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria it has been recorded in heathlands, open eucalypt woodlands and wet sedgelands (Calaby and Wimbush 1964; Dixon 1971; Seebeck 1971; Bubela et al. 1991). At lower altitudes in Victoria, it has been recorded in wet sclerophyll forests with a dense undergrowth, coastal heathland, coastal grassland and in a pine plantation (Seebeck 1971; Wallis et al. 1982; Warneke 1960). In Tasmania, M. fuscus has been previously recorded only in buttongrass moorlands of western Tasmania at altitudes ranging from sea level to 900 m (Finlayson 1933; Andrews 1968; Green 1968, 1984; Hocking and Guiler 1983; Driessen and Comfort 1991; Slater 1992; Driessen 1998). Buttongrass moorland (also referred to as sedgeland) is a treeless vegetation typically dominated by Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus (buttongrass) that covers more than a million hectares in Tasmania, predominantly in the western part of the State (Jarman et al. 1988). Buttongrass moorland is a very variable vegetation group and not all communities recognised within buttongrass moorland provide habitat for M. fuscus (Driessen and Comfort 1991; Slater 1992; Driessen 1998). The purpose of this note is to report the results of a survey for M. fuscus in alpine heathland, a habitat in which the species has not been previously recorded in Tasmania. This finding has significant implications for the conservation status of this species.