Plains rat: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the plains rat lives – recorded in 1 country, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Pseudomys australis
Group	Mice, rats & other rodents
Status	Vulnerable (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	1 country
Continents	Oceania
Class	Mammal
Order	Rodentia
Family	Muridae

Where does the plains rat live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the plains rat in 1 country or territory across Oceania.

Australia

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the plains rat endangered?

The plains rat’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Vulnerable” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the plains rat?

The plains rat (Pseudomys australis) is a mammal in the order Rodentia and the family Muridae, genus Pseudomys. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the plains rat

The plains rat (Pseudomys australis), also known as the palyoora, plains mouse and eastern mouse, is a conilurine rodent native to arid and semi-arid Australia. Referred to as the pallyoora or yarlie by Indigenous groups, the plains rat was once widely distributed across central Australia, including north-west New South Wales and south-west Queensland; however, habitat degradation due to grazing, introduced predators and drought have contributed to its decline. Consequently, the plains rat has been listed as 'presumed extinct' in New South Wales and Victoria, 'endangered' in the Northern Territory and Queensland and 'vulnerable' in Western Australia and South Australia. While recent research has indicated the presence of the plains rat in areas such as the Fowlers Gap and Strzelecki Desert regions of New South Wales and within the Diamantina National Park in Queensland, there are only five sub-populations currently recognised nationally, none of which coincide with recent discoveries of the plains rat. As the current population trend of the plains rat has been listed as 'declining' by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the IUCN conservation status for the species is 'vulnerable'.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Plains rat (revision 1360110050), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q1762835 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).