Hopping mouse

Hopping mouse Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Recent
Dusky hopping mouse (Notomys fuscus)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Muridae
Tribe:	Hydromyini
Genus:	Notomys Lesson, 1842
Type species
Dipus mitchelli[1]
Species
N. alexis †N. amplus N. aquilo N. cervinus N. fuscus †N. longicaudatus †N. macrotis N. mitchelli †N. mordax †N. robustus

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A hopping mouse is any of about ten different Australian native mice in the genus Notomys. They are rodents, not marsupials, and their ancestors are thought to have arrived from Asia about 5 million years ago.

All are brown or fawn, fading to pale grey or white underneath, have very long tails and, as the common name implies, well-developed hind legs. Half of the hopping mouse species have become extinct since European colonisation. The primary cause is probably predation from introduced foxes or cats, coupled with competition for food from introduced rabbits and hoofed mammals. A hopping mouse's primary diet is seeds. An Australian hopping mouse can concentrate urine to as high as 10,000 mOsm/L (10-20 times higher than a human). This allows it to survive in the desert without drinking water.