NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Big-eared Hopping Mouse
Notomys macrotis Thomas, 1921
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The big-eared hopping mouse (Notomys macrotis) is an extinct species of mouse, which lived in the Moore River area of south-western Australia. The big-eared hopping mouse was a small, rat-sized animal resembling a tiny kangaroo. It had large eyes and ears with a brush-tipped tail. It moved on its four legs when traveling at a slower pace, or by bounding upon its enlarged, padded, hind feet when traveling quickly. They mainly lived in sand dunes and made nests of leaves and other organic materials. The big-eared hopping-mouse was last collected in July 1843 near the Moore River, Western Australia, close to where New Norcia is now situated, and has not been seen since. The big-eared hopping mouse was among many hopping mice to be extinct, and its absence from extensive sub-fossil collections suggests it was restricted to Western Australia. Of the six taxa with ranges limited to Western Australia, five are considered threatened or vulnerable and one, the big-eared hopping mouse, is extinct.
Wikipedia contributors, Big-eared hopping mouse; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:10:44.358243+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Notomys macrotis Thomas, 1921
- Name authority
- Thomas, 1921
- Common name
- Big-eared 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 macrotis Thomas, 1921
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 |
| Long-tailed Hopping MouseNotomys longicaudatus (Gould, 1844) | MuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| 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 |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Notomys megalotis Iredale & Troughton, 1934 Iredale & Troughton, 1934 | 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=585444 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:47WX2. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.