Description
The Spinifex Hopping Mouse is a small rodent with large ears and prominent black eyes. The fur is a fawn brown colour above and white below. The tail is long and thin with a small tuft at the end. It has strong rear legs that enable it to hop rapidly. The front legs are small.
Other Names
Brown Hopping Mouse, Dargawarra
Size
Head and body 10-12cm. Tail 14cm.
Habitat
found in arid areas where there is sandy soil and some patches of grass cover, especially spinifex. Nocturnal, living in burrows during the day.
Food
seeds, roots, plant shoots, some insects and larvae
Breeding
gives birth 3 or 4 young after gestation of about one month. Young can breed at about 3 months old.
Range
central interior of Australia and extending west to the coast of Western Australia
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Notes
Lives in small social groups.
Classification
| Class: | Mammalia | | Order: | Rodentia | | Family: | Muridae | | Genus: | Notomys | | Species: | alexis | | Common Name: | Spinifex Hopping Mouse |
Relatives in same Genus
Mitchell's Hopping Mouse (N. mitchelli)
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