Black-footed tree-rat

The black-footed tree-rat (Mesembriomys gouldii), also known as Djintamoonga, is a large murid rodent of northern Australia and one of only two species in the genus Mesembriomys, the other being the golden-backed tree-rat. Its range runs from the savannahs of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland west to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and it lives in tropical woodland and open forest as well as coastal vine thickets and closed forest. The animal has a shaggy, coarse greyish-brown coat, a creamy white belly, black hind feet with well developed pads and sharp claws, large ears, and a long tail tipped with a brush of white hair. Adults grow to about 830 grams, with a head and body length of 250 to 308 millimetres. It is typically solitary and nocturnal, semi-arboreal, and shelters by day in tree hollows or pandanus stands, feeding on leaves and fruit with the occasional termite or mollusc. Three subspecies are recognised, one of them confined to Melville Island. Populations are declining in many regions, and the global population is estimated at about 30,000.