26-434: The crest-tailed mulgara ( Dasycercus cristicauda ) is a small to medium-sized Australian carnivorous marsupial and a member of the family Dasyuridae (meaning "hairy tail") which includes quolls , dunnarts , numbats , the endangered Tasmanian devil and the extinct thylacine . The crest-tailed mulgara is among a group of native predatory mammals or mesopredators endemic to arid Australia. The crest-tailed mulgara
52-755: A rhizomatous stem that usually grows horizontally and has coarse roots . The stem bearing the flowers ( inflorescence ), or culm , is hard and brittle with a shallow channel, up to at least 8 mm (0.31 in) in diameter and 40 cm (16 in) to 150 cm (59 in) tall, cylindrical or somewhat angled. Leaf-blades 1 cm (0.39 in) to 30 cm (12 in) long and 1 mm (0.039 in) to 10 mm (0.39 in) wide. There are two types of flowers. The first type are male heads globular in shape, 1 cm (0.39 in) to 2 cm (0.79 in) in diameter. The second type are female heads which are also globular in shape, 2.5 cm (0.98 in) to 3.5 cm (1.4 in) in diameter, with
78-418: A range of insects, arachnids and rodents but also includes reptiles, centipedes and small marsupials. It forages along the dune crests and flanks with forays down onto the swales. The crest-tailed mulgara reaches sexual maturity in the first year. Reproduction occurs between winter and early summer raising up to eight young in a litter. Independent young are found in spring and early summer The following are
104-547: Is a genus of desert plants in the grass family known only from Australia . The only known species is Zygochloa paradoxa , commonly known as sandhill canegrass . It occurs in extremely arid areas such as the Simpson Desert . Zygochloa paradoxa is a dense, green, bushy perennial 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall, 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide, that forms tussocks or hummocks. Male and female flowers are found on different plants ( dioecious ). The plant has
130-410: Is a small to medium-sized mammal with sandy coloured fur on the upper parts leading to a darker grey on the under parts and inner limbs. The species is strongly sexually dimorphic with adult males weighing 100 to 185 g (3.5 to 6.5 oz) and females weighing 65 to 120 g (2.3 to 4.2 oz). Head–body length of 125–230 mm and tail length is between 75–125 mm. Identification between
156-666: Is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials , including quolls , dunnarts , the numbat , the Tasmanian devil , and the extinct thylacine . In Australia, the exceptions include the omnivorous bandicoots (order Peramelemorphia) and the marsupial moles (which eat meat but are very different and are now accorded an order of their own, Notoryctemorphia). Numerous South American species of marsupials (orders Didelphimorphia , Paucituberculata , and Microbiotheria ) are also carnivorous, as were some extinct members of
182-663: Is sensitive to predation by the European red fox and feral cat, changes to fire regimes together with environmental degradation and habitat homogenization attributed to grazing from livestock and introduced European rabbits. During post-release of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), the crest-tailed mulgara underwent a 70-fold increase in its extent of occurrence and a 20-fold increase in its area of occupancy. Carnivorous marsupial Dasyuromorphia ( / d æ s i j ʊər oʊ ˈ m ɔːr f i ə / , meaning "hairy tail" in Greek )
208-495: The Dasyuridae , with 73 extant species. Unlike herbivores, which tend to become highly specialized for particular ecological niches and diversify greatly in form, carnivores tend to be broadly similar to one another, certainly on the level of gross external form. Just as Northern Hemisphere carnivores like cats, mongooses, foxes and weasels are much more alike in structure than, for example, camels, goats, pigs and giraffes, so too are
234-700: The Native Mammals of Australia' published in 1970 referred only to a single species, Dasycercus cristicauda, and in 1988 Mahoney and Ride placed all three species in the synonymy of D. cristicauda. A fourth species, Dasyuroides byrnei, described by Spencer, 1896, was included by Mahoney and Ride however a lack of consensus resulted in its exclusion to the genus Dasycercus . In 1995 Woolley described two sub-species, D. cristicauda cristicauda and D. cristicauda hillieri, which were later confirmed to be two species using mitochondrial gene sequencing by Adams, Cooper and Armstrong in 2000. Woolley resolved
260-416: The day it shelters in burrows which are located at the base of sandhill canegrass ( Zygochloa paradoxa ) clumps or Nitre bush (Nitraria billardieri) growing around the edges of salt lakes. Burrow site suitability, rainfall, food resources and the fire age of the vegetation community may be a factor influencing their distribution. The crest-tail mulgara is an opportunistic or non-specialist carnivore, eating
286-587: The dioecious character of the plant, and taking into account the inflorescence being head-shaped (capitate), appeared to belong to the genus Spinifex . However, Bentham did note the discrepancy from Spinifex due to the small size of spikelets and the lack of long spines. Blake moved the species to a new genus Zygochloa in 1941, identifying a number of key differences between the plant and Spinifex genus. Firstly, Blake noted that inflorescences in Spinifex are less densely head-shaped and considerably larger. Secondly,
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#1732855862919312-514: The extension of the peduncle in Spinifex into a very long, rigid tapering spine. Finally, in Spinifex the mature flowers disarticulate in their entirety from the plant, while in Zygochloa the heads appear to break up. Zygochloa paradoxa is the current accepted name for the species. When Blake described the genus Zygochloa , he derived the name from Greek zygon (ζυγόν) meaning pair or yoke, and chloa (Xλόα) meaning grass. The name refers to
338-1188: The federal, state and international listings for the crest-tailed mulgara. The mulgara was presumed extirpated in New South Wales for more than a century, but was re-discovered in 2017 in Sturt National Park north-west of Tibooburra . Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act): Listed as Vulnerable. IUCN: Listed as Near Threatened (Global Status: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). WA: Listed as P4 (Priority Flora and Priority Fauna List (Western Australia)). NGO: Listed as Near Threatened (The Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012). NSW: Listed as Extinct (Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016), April 2018. NT: Listed as Vulnerable (Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2000), 2012. QLD: Listed as Vulnerable (Nature Conservation Act 1992), September 2017. SA: Listed as Endangered (National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972), June 2011. The crest-tailed mulgara
364-477: The genus Dasycercus described by Peters in 1875. Four named forms of carnivorous marsupials have been assigned to this genus. Kreft, 1867, first described Chaetocercus cristicauda in 1877. A second form, Phascogale blythi was described by Waite, 1904, followed by a third form, Phascogale hillieri described by Thomas, 1905. Jones 1923, described two species of mulgara Dasycercus cristicauda and D. hillieri . but decades on, William Ride ’s 'A Guide to
390-1192: The lower end of the size scale, typically between about 15 or 20 grams and about 2 kilograms, or from the size of a domestic mouse to that of a small domestic cat. Myrmecobius ( Numbats ) Planigale ( planigales ) Ningaui ( ningauis ) Sminthopsis [ Antechinomys ] ( dunnarts , kultarrs ) Phascogale ( phascogales ) Murexia Antechinus ( antechinuses ) Pseudantechinus ( False antechinus ) Dasyuroides ( kowari ) Dasykaluta ( little red kaluta ) Dasycercus ( mulgara ) Parantechinus ( dibblers ) Pseudantechinus ningbing Myoictis (Three-striped dasyure) Neophascogale (speckled dasyure) Phascolosorex (marsupial shrews) Dasyurus [ Sarcophilus ] ( quolls ) Myrmecobius Planigale Sminthopsis species-group 1 Sminthopsis species-group 2 Sminthopsis species-group 3 [ Antechinomys ] Ningaui Antechinus Phascogale Murexia Neophascogale Phascolosorex Dasyurus [ Sarcophilus ] Pseudantechinus Dasycercus Dasyuroides Dasykaluta Parantechinus Myoictis Zygochloa Zygochloa
416-416: The marsupial predators constrained to retain general-purpose, look-alike forms—forms which mirror those of placental carnivores. The names given to them by early European settlers reflect this: the thylacine was called the Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf , quolls were called native cats or native foxes , and so on. The primary specialisation among marsupial predators is that of size: prior to
442-475: The massive environmental changes that came about with the arrival of humans about 50,000 years ago, there were several very large carnivores, none of them members of the Dasyuromorphia and all of them now extinct. Those that survived into historical times ranged from the wolf-sized thylacine to the tiny long-tailed planigale which at 4 to 6 grams is less than half the size of a mouse. Most, however, tend towards
468-417: The order Diprotodontia , including extinct kangaroos (such as Ekaltadeta and Propleopus ) and thylacoleonids , and some members of the partially extinct clade Metatheria and all members of the extinct superorder Sparassodonta . The order contains four families: one with just a single living species (the numbat), two with only extinct species (including the thylacine and Malleodectes ), and one,
494-473: The prominent chaffy bract like structures ( bracteoles ) having rigid tips. Male spikelet with no stem ( sessile ), 6 mm (0.24 in) to 8 mm (0.31 in) long. Female spikelets are solitary and having a short stem ( pedicellate ), 6 mm (0.24 in) to 10 mm (0.39 in) long. Flowers mostly March to September. Zygochloa paradoxa was first described by the botanist Robert Brown as Neurachne paradoxa in 1849. The type specimen
520-656: The southern and south-eastern margins of the Strzelecki dunefield/sandplain, in the Flinders Ranges and at Mutawintji National Park in far-western New South Wales. Due to the levels of taxonomic uncertainty, misidentification may have led to an overestimated distribution especially when based on older records. This has created difficulties in assessing and interpreting temporal changes within its historic distribution. The crest-tailed mulgara inhabits crests and slopes of sand ridges, or around salt lakes in inland Australia. During
546-605: The taxonomic and nomenclatural issues in 2005 and the species was re-named to two genetically distinct forms, D. cristicauda previously D. hillieri or the Ampurta and D. blythi previously named D. cristicauda or the Mulgara. The crest-tailed mulgara inhabits areas of arid Australia. It has been recorded in the southern Simpson Desert near the tri-state border and in the Tirari and Strzelecki Deserts of South Australia and
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#1732855862919572-415: The tip. In contrast the brush-tailed mulgara tail hair is not crested, black hair starts half way along the upper surface of the tail and dorsal hair length remains consistent. Nipple count also differs between the two species and is another distinguishing feature. The female crest-tailed mulgara has eight nipples compared to the brush-tailed mulgara who only has six. There has been taxonomic confusion within
598-426: The two species within the genus Dasycercus has proven difficult with the crest-tailed mulgara ( Dasycercus cristicauda ) often confused with the brush-tailed mulgara or ampurta ( D. blythi ). Tail morphology is a primary identifying feature between the two species. The crest-tailed mulgara has a crest of fine black hairs along the dorsal edge of the tail creating a fin-like crest and hair length tapering towards
624-786: The western Lake Eyre region. Historically the species’ geographic range was much larger incorporating areas from Ooldea on the eastern edge of the Nullarbor Plain and the Musgrave Ranges in South Australia, Sandringham Station in Queensland (last record in 1968) and from the Canning Stock Route and near Rawlinna on the Nullarbor Plain in Western Australia. Owl pellet examinations showed presence of crest-tailed mulgara near
650-563: Was collected by Charles Sturt during his expedition into Central Australia (1844 to 1846), and is held by the Natural History Museum, London . Brown observed that the identification of the species was based on a single specimen which was imperfect in its leaves and stem, however, had sufficient fruits. Brown noted that the specimen differs materially in habit from the original species Neurachne alopeuroides , as well as from Neurachne mitchelliana . No location details were provided, but
676-459: Was likely to have been collected from near the junction of the borders of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. In 1874, Ferdinand von Mueller moved the species to the genus Panicum and published a replacement name ( nomen novum ) Panicum pseudoneurachne , on the basis of the smooth hardened fruiting glume and palea . Bentham proposed a new combination Spinifex paradoxa in 1877. Bentham thought that Mueller had overlooked
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