Short-tailed Hopping Mouse

Open encyclopedia reference

The short-tailed hopping mouse (Notomys amplus) is an extinct species of mouse in the family Muridae, endemic to the central and western arid zones of Australia. It inhabited open stony (gibber) plains with desert grasses, low shrubs and sand ridges in the area around Charlotte Waters, near Alice Springs in Central Australia. The last record is from June 1896. Only two complete specimens were collected, probably from Aboriginal Australians. It was among the largest Australian hopping mice, with an estimated body mass of around 80 grams, roughly twice that of extant species, although fossil evidence suggests the extinct great hopping mouse may have been of similar size. The short-tailed hopping mouse was predominantly brown in color, its tail probably being as long as its body. This species' decline was due to a number of factors, some of which were being hunted by predators such as foxes, cats and habitat alterations.

Wikipedia contributors, Short-tailed hopping mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:27:46.728544+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Notomys amplus Brazenor, 1936

Name authority

Brazenor, 1936

Common name

Short-tailed Hopping Mouse

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Rodentia

Family

Muridae

Genus

Notomys

Extinction status

Recorded extinct

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
13. superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
14. familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
15. subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
16. genusNotomys Lesson, 1842
17. speciesNotomys amplus Brazenor, 1936

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Notomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 672 records assigned to Muridae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585439 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:47WWT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.