Sandy inland mouse

The sandy inland mouse (Pseudomys hermannsburgensis), also called the Hermannsburg mouse or Hermannsburg false-mouse, is a rodent of the family Muridae endemic to Australia, where it is widespread but sparse through the arid and semi-arid interior and on some islands off Western Australia. It is greyish brown to sandy brown with an off-white underside, weighs roughly 9 to 15 g and is told from the house mouse by its unnotched incisors, its lack of a musty smell and its footpad pattern. It was first described as Mus hermannsburgensis after the Horn scientific expedition of 1894 and has been placed in Pseudomys since 1970. Nocturnal, it shelters by day in burrows up to 50 cm deep, forages under spinifex cover and eats seeds together with invertebrates, which can reach 60 percent of intake in autumn. Numbers stay low through long dry spells and surge after heavy rain, by as much as 40 times in western Queensland. Grazing is the main threat, and it is listed Least Concern by the IUCN but Vulnerable in New South Wales.