Gould's mouse
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Gould's Mouse
Conservation status: Extinct (1857?) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Pseudomys gouldii (Waterhouse, 1839) |
The Gould's Mouse (Pseudomys gouldii) lived in eastern inland Australia, and was named after John Gould's wife, Elizabeth. It was slightly smaller than a black rat, and quite social, living in small family groups that sheltered by day in a nest of soft, dry grass in a burrow. It usually dug burrows at a depth of 15 cm under bushes. Gould's mouse was common and widespread before European settlement, but disappeared rapidly after the 1840s, perhaps being exterminated by cats. Alternatively, it may have been out-competed by the introduced rats and mice, succumbed to introduced diseases or been affected by grazing stock and changed fire regimes. The last specimens were collected in 1856-57, and it is presumed to be extinct.
