Desert mouse

The desert mouse (Pseudomys desertor), also known as the brown desert mouse, is a rodent of the family Muridae that is endemic to Australia. The first specimen was collected by the zoologist Gerard Krefft on the Blandowski Expedition of 1856 and 1857, between Gol Gol Creek and the Darling River. It has bright chestnut brown fur with long dark guard hairs that give it a spiny look, a light grey-brown belly, and a pale orange eye-ring that separates it from the western chestnut mouse. Head and body length is 70 to 105 millimetres and weight is 15 to 35 grams. It is widespread across the arid zone of Australia, digging shallow burrows in sand dunes with spinifex and on rocky hillsides. It feeds mainly on leaves and shoots, breeds very fast after rain, and is threatened by foxes, feral cats and altered habitat.