Broad-toothed mouse

Australian wide-tooth rat ( Mastacomys fuscus )

The Australian broad- toothed rat ( Mastacomys fuscus ) is a rodent that is native to southeastern Australia. In the figure wühlmausartig, it is most closely related to the Australian mice ( Pseudomys ). The recently acquired knowledge that Pseudomys is paraphyletic with respect to the Australian broad- toothed rat, has meant that this species is now often classified even at Pseudomys.

The body length is 15 to 19 centimeters, added a 10 to 13 centimeters long tail. The coat is gray-brown and silky. Wide-tooth relic - type rats were often called, because they are like islands spread in separate regions. The habitat is mountainous landscapes in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, where there is a wet - cold climate. In winter, the animals dig passages through the snow. You will then be sociable, during the warmer months, but a loner. The food are grasses, leaves and seeds.

Fossil finds show that the wide-tooth rat a few millennia ago had a much wider distribution. It is nowhere common, the IUCN lists them because of the feared population decline as "low risk" ( near threatened ).