Fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat

The fawn-footed mosaic-tailed rat, also called the fawn-footed melomys, is a rodent of the family Muridae whose scientific name is Melomys cervinipes. It lives along the eastern coastal regions of Australia. The upper parts of the animal are a sandy brown, with grey and whitish mottling on the underside, and the tail is hairless with a purplish tone to the skin. Its fur is soft and short and lies flat against the body, without the long guard hairs that other species carry. John Gould described the species, first placing it in the genus Mus under the English name Buff-footed Rat, and chose the epithet cervinipes for the fawn-like colouring of the feet. His specimens came from the collector Frederick Strange, who gathered them around Moreton Bay, the Richmond River and the plains of the upper Brisbane River. In the 1990s indigenous Australian names such as korril were proposed for the species, although that recommendation was not binding.