The relationship between eastern and western populations of the Heath Rat, Pseudomys shortridgei (Rodentia: Muridae)

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 7 years ago

INTRODUCTION – The Heath Rat, Pseudomys shortridgei (Thomas, 1907), has a wide but disjunct range across southern Australia, occurring in heaths and shrublands in western Victoria, southern South Australia and Western Australia (Cockburn 1995). The holotype of P. shortridgei (Natural History Museum, London, no. 6.8.1.73) was collected by G.C. Shortridge on 27 Apr 1906 from Woyerling, east of Pingelly, Western Australia (Tate 1951) (see Figure 1). Shortridge (1936) recorded the locality as "Woyaline Wells (source of the Avon River)". In Western Australia it is presently known only from Fitzgerald River National Park, Lake Magenta Reserve, Dragon Rocks Reserve, Hyden area and Ravensthorpe (specimens in the Western Australian Museum collection) (Figure 1). Two specimens were also accessioned into the Western Australian Museum collection in 1931 from the Lake Biddy area.