Well I did not recognise the name at all and knowing of the tendency to use silly names like marsupial mouse and flying fox for things that they are not, I wondered if it was like a rabbit or like a rat or neither. I have 3 Aust mammal field guide books. One lists Brush-tailed Rabbit Rat (different spelling with alternate name Brush-tailed Tree-rat) Conilurus penicillatus. One lists Conilurus penicillatus as Brush-tailed Tree-rat, which leaves me wondering at the logic of how “rabbit” substitutes for “tree” or vice versa. The third does not mention this species but includes another one White-footed Tree Rat (alternate name Rabbit-Rat). The “Complete book of Australian mammals” clarified it for me. Philip —–Original Message—–From: Birding-Aus [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@birding-aus.org] On Behalf Of Denise Goodfellow Sent: Friday, 12 December 2014 10:47 AM To: Colin Trainor Cc: birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat Colin, I have some expertise with small/medium Top End mammals, including Black-footed Tree-rat, having worked for some decades as a biological consultant up here. See my writeup in Fauna of Kakadu and the Top End (1993). Regards Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71 Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841 PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia Founding Member: Australian Federation of Graduate Women Northern Territory 043 8650 835 On 12 Dec 2014, at 8:58 am, colin trainor <halmahera@hotmail.com> wrote: > According to the “Action Plan for Australian Mammals” there have been > no confirmed records of Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat in the Greater Darwin > area since 1993, and it is now thought to have been extirpated in > Kakadu Nat Park, with no captures since 2008 despite ongoing > monitoring. > > Your observation would more likely to have been the still regionally > extant Black-footed Tree Rat …. > > From: > > Denise Goodfellow <goodfellow@bigpond.com.au> > Date: > > Fri, 12 Dec 2014 02:21:41 +0930 > > Late one night a couple of weeks ago I saw a Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat > on a > Darwin River road. There is one other record of what sounds like this animal > from this area, from a local man. > > If any Birding Aussers are in the vicinity of Darwin River could you > please let > me know of any sightings? > > Thanks > Denise > > > Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow > PO Box 71
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