NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Long-tailed Hopping Mouse
Notomys longicaudatus (Gould, 1844)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Pl. 29 The zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus & Terror, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, during the years 1839 to 1843. By authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Edited by John Richardson and John Edward Gray.
Erebus (Ship).; Gray, John Edward; Richardson, John; Ross, James Clark; Terror (Ship). · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The long-tailed hopping mouse (Notomys longicaudatus) is an extinct species of rodent in the family Muridae. It was found only in Australia. It is known from a handful of specimens, the last of which was collected in 1901 or possibly 1902. It is presumed to have become extinct within a few decades from then – possibly several decades in view of a skull fragment found in an owl pellet in 1977. The cause of extinction is unknown, but may be a variety of factors including predation and habitat alteration. Little is known of its biology other than that it dug burrows in stiff clay soils. It was less a pest to humans than other hopping mice, although it would eat raisins. The mouse was mainly gray in colour with small pink ears and big eyes with a long hairy pink tail about two inches longer than its own body. It was first described by John Gould on the basis of specimens sent to him from Australia.
Wikipedia contributors, Long-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 2026-10-05T11:05:46.696629+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Notomys longicaudatus (Gould, 1844)
- Name authority
- (Gould, 1844)
- Common name
- Long-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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderMyomorpha Brandt, 1855
- superfamilyMuroidea Illiger, 1811
- familyMuridae Illiger, 1811
- subfamilyMurinae Illiger, 1811
- genusNotomys Lesson, 1842
- speciesNotomys longicaudatus (Gould, 1844)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Notomys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Spinifex Hopping MouseNotomys alexis Thomas, 1922 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mitchell's Hopping MouseNotomys mitchellii (Ogilby, 1838) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Darling Downs Hopping MouseNotomys mordax Thomas, 1922 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Short-tailed Hopping MouseNotomys amplus Brazenor, 1936 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Fawn Hopping MouseNotomys cervinus (Gould, 1853) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky Hopping MouseNotomys fuscus (Wood Jones, 1925) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Big-eared Hopping MouseNotomys macrotis Thomas, 1921 | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Notomys sturti Thomas, 1921 Thomas, 1921 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585443 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.
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:47WWZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.