More Little Mammals

One of the small mammals that you often catch on fauna surveys, even in arid Australia, is the introduced House Mouse, but sometimes what looks like one isn't.

What's in the bag? A nice little Sandy Inland Mouse (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis). Long scientific name!

 

A cute fellow found across most central areas of arid Australia.

 

Australia had waves in colonisation by rats and mice from Asia, when sea levels dropped during ice ages. The first wave animals changed to become different looking specialists, but these later wave animals still really look like normal mice.

 

He's starting to get cheesed off (ha ha) by being in the sun.

 

Time to go back to his family and friends, that live in a complex underground burrow system.