Long-tailed hopping mouse
species of mammal
The long-tailed hopping mouse (Notomys longicaudatus) is an extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was found only in Australia. It is known from a handful of specimens, the last of which was collected in 1901 or possibly 1902. It is presumed to have become extinct within a few decades from then – possibly several decades in view of a skull fragment found in an owl pellet in 1977. The cause of extinction is unknown, but may be a variety of factors including predation and habitat alteration. Little is known of its biology other than that it dug burrows in stiff clay soils. It was less a pest to humans than other hopping mice, although it would eat raisins. The mouse was mainly gray in colour with small pink ears and big eyes with a long hairy pink tail about two inches longer than its own body. It was first described by John Gould on the basis of specimens sent to him from Australia.
Taxonomy
The specimens were obtained in 1843 by John Gilbert.
The public source identifies “Long-tailed hopping mouse” as species of mammal. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Long-tailed, hopping and mouse.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q596226. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1901, 1902, 1977 and 1843.
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This entry incorporates text from “Long-tailed hopping mouse” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.