| Crest-tailed Mulgara | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Marsupialia |
| Family | Dasyuridae |
| Genus | Dasycercus |
| Species | D. cristicauda |
| Conservation Status | |
 Vulnerable | |
The Crest-tailed Mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda) is a species of marsupial that is native in Australia.
Description[]
Not including the tail, the Crest-tailed Mulgara ranges from 125-220 mm in length, while the short tail is 70-130 mm in length. This mulgara can weigh up to around 190 grams. This animal is a robust, compactly built mammal with short limbs, a broad head, short ears, and a pointed muzzle. The tail is slightly enlarged at the base for 2/3 of its length, before tapering to a point at the tip. Hairs near the body on the tail are coarse and chestnut colored; hairs in the middle are coarse and black; and hairs at the tip are long and form a distinct dorsal crest.
Upperparts are tan to ginger and underparts are creamy white. The pelage is close and soft and consists primarily of underfur with a few guard hairs. The pouch area consists of only slightly developed lateral skin folds.
Habitat and Distribution[]
Due to the taxonomic confusion within the genus Dasycercus, there is some uncertainty about the Crest-tailed Mulgara's distribution. Most records of this species are from the Simpson Desert and northern South Australia, but it may occur in other semi-arid and arid places in Australia, with old records from the Canning Stock Route in Western Australia and the Nullabor Plain.
The Crest-tailed Mulgara appears to prefer sand dune habitats in the Simpson Desert, especially areas where canegrass Zygochloa paradoxa and with Triodia basedowii in the interdunes.
They live in burrows they dig on the flats between low sand dunes or on the slopes of high dunes. Burrows vary across the mulgara's range. In central Australia, burrows usually have one entrance with two or three side tunnels and numerous pop-holes, while those in Queensland have more than one entrance and deeper branching tunnels.
Ecology[]
The ecology of the Crest-tailed Mulgara is not well understood and is inferred to be similar to that of the Brush-tailed Mulgara. To avoid exposure to heat, marsupials will remain in their burrows during the day and leaves at night to forage. However, mulgaras will sunbathe when given the change. While sunning, the mulgara will flatten its body against the substrate and twitch its tail sporadically.
Crest-tailed Mulgaras are territorial in the wild but can be kept in pairs in captivity. Captive mulgaras generally do not fight among themselves, appearing somewhat solicitous of each other.
Mulgaras will consume arthropods and small vertebrates. They are capable of consuming 25% of their own weight in food and can subsist without drinking water or even eating succulent plants as it is capable of extracting sufficient water from a diet of lean meat or mice. Mulgaras attack their prey with lightning speed, then devours the animal methodically from head to tail, inverting the skin in a remarkably neat fashion. The mulgara is also capable of dislodging insects from crevices using its tiny forepaws.
Little is known about the breeding behaviors of mulgaras in the wild. In captivity, however, the breeding season begins in mid May and lasts about six weeks. Gestation spans approximately 30 days, to which the female will give birth to a litter of around six to eight young. Females will nurse their young in the pouch and care for them until they reach independence at the age of 4 months old. The young are detached from milk at around 55 days of age. Individuals of both sexes have been observed to come into breeding condition every year for the span of six years, suggesting Crest-tailed Mulgaras are relatively long-lived mammals.
Threats[]
Via the introduction of herbivores, the establishment of non-native predators, altering fire regimes, and the like, European settlement has degraded the mulgara's habitat and is responsible for the species's decline. Due to the decline, inbreeding is increasing between populations and genetic diversity is being lost. Fortunately, the introduction of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), the populations of the Crest-tailed Mulgara have undergone a 70-fold increase in its extend of occurrence and a 20-fold increase in its area of occupancy.
There is no current conservation management program for the Crest-tailed Mulgara.
References[]
"Crest-tailed mulgara." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2001, en.wikipedia.org/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.
"Crest-tailed Mulgara - profile." NSW Environment and Heritage, www.environment.nsw.gov.au. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.
Nocon, Wojtek. "Dasycercus cristicauda." Animal Diversity Web, animaldiversity.org. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.
"Threatened species of the Northern Territory - Crest-tailed mulgara." Northern Territory Government, nt.gov.au. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022.