Long-tailed hopping mouse

The long-tailed hopping mouse, Notomys longicaudatus, is an extinct rodent of the family Muridae that was found only in Australia. It is known from a handful of specimens, the last collected in 1901 or possibly 1902, and a skull fragment found in an owl pellet in 1977 suggests it may have lasted a few decades longer. The cause of its extinction is unknown, though predation, habitat alteration and rapid population growth in its habitat have all been suggested. The animal was mainly grey, with small pink ears, large dark eyes and a long, hairy pink tail much longer than its body. It lived in inland Australia, dug burrows in stiff clay soils, and ate fruits, grain and plants, with a liking for raisins. John Gilbert collected the five specimens that John Gould described in 1844, the first of them near Alice Springs.