This species is nocturnal and quadrupedal with an average mass of 12 g. hermannsburgensis usually occurs in or near microhabitats that provide dense cover which, in sand dune habitats, is mainly amongst hummock grasses on the sides of dunes and in the dune swales. hermannsburgensis in sand dune habitats in central Australia.įoraging in P. This paper focuses on the foraging behaviour and diet of P. The relative paucity of relevant information is surprising in that the sandy inland mouse has the largest extant distribution of any Australian native rodent and is often the numerically dominant member of desert mammal assemblages. The sandy inland mouse, Pseudomys hermannsburgensis, provides a good example of a native species for which only limited dietary information is available, with most of the detailed research conducted more than 20 years ago, e.g. Relatively fewer rodent species occur in Australia than in other continental regions, but quantitative analyses of diet are still limited and distributed patchily among extant taxa, e.g. In Africa, the consumption of seeds and green plants by rodents has stimulated much study in many cropping areas due to the destructive impacts of species such as multimammate rats ( Mastomys spp.) however, desert rodents have also been subject to considerable study, with some authors suggesting that granivory is the norm for small and medium-sized species. In South America, seeds comprise a large proportion of the diets of many species, notably in arid regions, but invertebrates, fungi and green plant material often form additional components of the diet. In North America, for example, heteromyid rodents have been much studied, and the primarily granivorous diets and seed-caching behaviours of many species set early expectations that all desert rodents could be expected to be granivorous, e.g. We suggest that dietary flexibility is important for rodent persistence in Australia’s climatically unpredictable arid regions.Ĭompared to desert-dwelling rodent species in many parts of the world (North America, South America and South Africa), where dietary studies have often been a focus, there is a lack of detailed information relating to the foods selected and eaten by native rodents in Australia’s extensive arid regions. The results also support the classification of the species as omnivorous rather than granivorous, with 70% of stomachs containing invertebrates and over half the specimens analysed containing both seeds and invertebrates. hermannsburgensis, with 92% of stomachs containing seed. The results confirm that seed is an important component of the diet of P. However, invertebrates were more prominent in the diet of mice during prolonged, dry, population ‘bust’ periods compared with post-rain population ‘boom’ periods, with this dietary shift probably reflecting a scarcity of seeds during the busts. Stomach content analysis revealed no differences in the presence or absence of these three major food groups between seasons or the sexes. Direct observations showed that animals forage mostly on the ground surface and eat seeds from a wide range of plant species, as well as invertebrates and occasional green plant material. We describe the diet of a common Australian desert rodent, the sandy inland mouse Pseudomys hermannsburgensis, using direct observations of free-living animals and analysis of the stomach contents of preserved specimens. Seeds are commonly viewed as the mainstay of the diet of desert rodents. Secondly, in environments with unpredictable climatic conditions where food resources are likely to be unreliable, dietary flexibility is important in allowing animals to exploit different food groups as these become available at different times. This contrasts with a common view that seeds generally are the mainstay of desert rodents but supports some previous research on Australian desert species. Firstly, sandy inland mice are omnivorous. Although there were no seasonal or sex-based differences in diet, invertebrates were consumed more frequently during bust periods compared to booms, perhaps suggesting that animals switch to invertebrates at times when seeds are scarce. Both techniques showed that seeds were the most important component of the diet, and that invertebrates and green plant material were also consumed. We studied the diet of an Australian desert-dwelling rodent species, the sandy inland mouse Pseudomys hermannsburgensis, by watching what animals ate in the field and by analysing the stomach contents of preserved specimens collected opportunistically over 24 years. Rodents in Australia’s central deserts face highly unpredictable climatic conditions, with long dry ‘bust’ periods, when resources are sparse, punctuated by brief ‘boom’ periods, after heavy rainfall, when resources are abundant.
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