The Hastings River Mouse, Pseudomys oralis, from Gambubal State Forest, southeast Queensland

1 Pages·1994·0.1 MB·

by  M A Poole

280 MEMOfRSOFTHEQUEENSLAND MUSEUM
ra» ham inks kivKk Monro, pseu&oyvs thanatthehigheraltitudewhereP.oraliswerecapnured The
SOROAULITSH,EAFSRTOQMUEGEANMSBLUABNADL SMTeAmToEirsFORofEStTh,e garrca*ziIntigreulnabtlive1l9y91inaacncdessgirbuliieiitgo dstiosctku;rbiatnwcaesapfrpeeearosfdcaotlhiee
QueenslandMuseum .(?(})-2HO /W:-Pteudomysoralisis minimal. The transition from open eucalypt forest t>< vine
a poorly known, perhaps rare, Australian species of murid forest ts abruptand the site where the male P. oraliswas
rhraetieertbf.eTenhecafpetwurreedcoarrdeeadllloicnaelaitsiteesrnalNwehwicShoulit>heWsapelceismaennds cwaapstuarbesdenits uFnrloimkethleocuantdieorns*towrielyhmantdhetheeurcealwyapstafotrheistc;kglraaysesr
southeastern Queensland(unerarn& Raven, 1991). Skeletal fleafUtterbeneathamoderatelydensecanopyoftypicalvine
remainsfoundin "geologically recentfcave deposits"in the forestshnthsandvin*t>. donunatcdby EucalyptusdwWu1
GreatDividingRange inVictoriaandNewSouthWales,and KrrVpatrirk<1083- VH)reportedthatcaptures otP.oralis
in "relatively fresh owl pellets" near Maleny. Queensland weremade"alongsidefallenlogslyingnearlowcreekbanks
i.Kirkpjtrick. 1983: 394), suggest thai the H«Ung> Rwer I*call,openeucalyptforestwithsubstantialgrowthofbrack-
Mouseoncehodamuchwiderdistribution(Walts& Ainu. en". He recordedadultweightsof90-lOOg. Earliercaptures
(IQfuWeIeInTsblracntdP-SForaFliinsesctapWtu:red2a1lG1a^r5nb.ubIaSl2S°t2a7t*eEFIorbeestlwteSePo, mfraodmeQiuneaebnrsalcaknednbfyemKirkcpoavterriecdkcAreeMkarbtainnkUin97op1en11e4u1cawleyrpet
Aprilandhily 1V93arethe firstrecord^ofihr> \pexnrs «ron' forest, about 20 miles from Warwick in Ihe foothillsofthe
Queensland Innowthan20years. GreatDividingRangeICovaccvich&Easton, 1974; 32;Hycli
GamhubalSFissituatedonthewesternslopesoftheGreat A Shaw, I9S0) These captures were ubtained at600m al
Dividing Kangc near Warwick, betweenaltitudes of iOSOm tilude,approximately1 kmSWfromGambubulStateForest
and 1196m. Vegetation types in the area include complex TheCapture*reportedfromGambubalStateForestare from
uutophyII vineforest tallopeneucalyptforest,opentussock a substantially higher altitude (i.e. II00m} and ftfc dbtan1
grasslandwithinterspersedherb*andecoiuualcommunities. fromwatercourses,indicatingthatthesitesatwhichP.oralis
The vine forest was loggedin the 1950*sand early 1960*8 hasbeenpreviously caughtmaynotbewhollyrepresentative
(.Dale, I9SV| and the tussock grasslandandeucalyptforest ofIheirhabitat.ThereoembreedingsiaatsoftheMM
have beenihsturbedby varying intensitiesoffire and caltle taken in April suggests tliat the animals were nottransient
gyreaarz*i,nga.ndMemeaannamnonnutahllyraiMnffallHlpcismw1e1S99nmWmgGevfeormith2e5.2la*slC3U6 cwaiptthuirnetsheofarP.eaotrhaaltiswwaesrteroapbpteadi.neIdnaAtutghuisstsi1t9e9b3y,tshuebsDeeqpuaerntt
Januaryto4.9*CinJuly RainfallisexpectedK>behigherand menl of Environment and Heritage, and a male specimen
the range oftemperatures greater, al the higher elevations <S4g) collected on August 14, 1993, is lodged 01 ihe
whereP 0Wlft wascaptured QueenslandMuseum(QMJM9994).
Thecapturesofsmallmammalsreportedherewerenudehi ObservationsreportedinthispapetconItmitheCOfitiAliCtI
thecourseofroutinetransecttrapping, initiatedinApril 1993, sumval ofP. oralitinsoutheasternQueensland andextend
ID invesUgaiE the vine forest grassland and the vine firest therangeofmvironiiicnifcInwhichihespeciesmayhefound
eocaryptforestecntnnes.Ateachecotonetwoparalleltraplines,
7un0e0rimaclcosn.gEaancdhIl'i3n0eminapcalrutd,edwe2r0etersaipaphilnigVisottataiuonmsssTwthoethyanpteUiAt Acknowledgements
Elliottaajis130k 10x9cm)hattedwifesweetpotatosoaked*n IwouldlikelothankIhe DepartmentofEnvironmentand
vegetableoilandbaconwereusedateachstanon. HintageforpermissiontotrapandtheDepartmentofBotany,
P.Gratiswerecapturedonly(HIthevinetore^ieucalyptfore* University of Queen^ac*] foi faciluating access totheirre-
transecttones.On April 24, 1993 one adult female (76g) with searchsiles.IamalsogratefultoStevePhillipslevdiscussion
enlarged, recently post-lactation leads was captured in open andencouragement,toPeterDwyn fOTConflrrnaflgidentifica-
eucaryptforest75mfromilie vineforestedge.Theanimal was tionuftheanimals,andtoYvonneRoss,fromtheDepartment
eartaggedandreleased OnApnl25. 1993itwasrecapturedon iifBotany,tlMtvcrsityotQucenslanoVforprovtditigthehabitat
the same transcc*. line 65rn from the vine forestedge. On ihe description.
samedayasecondaductfemale(Krjrg>wascapturedon(heother
transectline.95mfromthevineforestedge.Animmaturemate
tP.henfriartstist(rla\n*sgecitwUanse.ca5pttnurweidthoinnJihurnevm22c,f1oVre9s3t,-Thhiwsasintdaikveinduoanl Liteurcavtfuccrhe,CiIte&d Eastors, A. 1974. 'Rnts and mice in
was recapturedatthesame stationonJury 23, 1993PTgV ^* Queensland' Qnecn*vUnd Museum Booklet No l)
thistimetthudIWJydescended'cslcs (QueenslandMuseum:Brisbane).
The fivecapturesofthreeP. oralishavebeenobtainedia DjIc I A ID$3 Management xntdies tn the cscarpmenr
Ihecourseof720trapttijchis;360withinopenrucalyplforest rainforestsot southeast Queenslatul*. Resr;inii papttl
and360 wiihb vine forest. Additional captureshivebeen9 No 14 DepartmentofForestry:Queensland).
t-.t"!attfumi/V,r'nuW.LIpNtJJ,RfitfdTfKtaifn&tAd3faSnmiinofthaop.sitt-AtneutoHmjti.a in theopen Hyctt.NielfstonSMA|uWsr.rNaiiaT:9HM0elbAouusrtnrea)l.ianmantmaJa' (TIu>m.:.^
eucalyptlorestand39/to.'wj.fwjtvne.y. 11 Meltmyscervinipf* Ingram.GJ &Ra\en,KJ, 1991. An atlasofQueensland's
and 53 AnSgchfHUS uuartti in contiguous vine fores*on the fiv^S, repuks. birds and mamuwh' (Queensland
sameIranscctIttftd Museum:Brishanei.
NewAtEGnagmlhaunbdalBlSaFcktbhuetoIp{eEnaceaufcvapltytpttsfeoaremsptaimsddaotmai)natwietdhbya lblfMiRn.c<«eti!T'.HTl1i9e«c3om^cju-.et.e....b..orok...o:<fMAoucvciteralJia9n41mamSmlarlltsa*n.
dense ground cover of Mady grass (Imperata cylindrical (AngusandRobertson Publishers:Australia)
sonickangaroo(Jf*M(j : '"». .tand*nowgra>st/"V\? Kirkpatrick,TK &Martin,JjOJH. 1971.Uncommon native
labtilarditri), bracken (Dertdhuh esculentum) and herbs fauna,QueenslandAgncultundJournal97(2/11*5-11^
Burntlfcogsareabui.iliin!tintiittic!c;ifliticrivevident Thearea Read. D. 1989. Elusive mouse lives up to its reputation.
inwhichthetrapswerelocatedwasunburnforabout20years JournaloftheAustralianGeographic Society 13:21.
beforeamildfireinNovember 1990 Between 100and 150m Watts,CHS.& Ashn,H.J. 198L"TherodentsofAirsiraha".
fromtheedgeofihevineforest,thelandslopessteeplydown (Argun;«nd Ruhcrlson Pohlisliers: AusHahali
totheCondaminegorge Acaciasaplingsgrowing Alongthe A/.A, Poole, Department of Zoology. University of
slopeindicate thatfire intensity mayhave beengreaterhere Qurenslami Queensland4072,Australia;9May 1994,