Pseudomys nanus Gould 1858

Pseudomys nanus Gould 1858, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1858: 242.

Type Locality: Australia, Western Australia, Victoria Plains (as restricted by Thomas’ lectotype designation; see Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:177).

Vernacular Names: Western Chestnut Pseudomys.

Synonyms: Pseudomys ferculinus (Thomas 1902) .

Distribution: Australia; W coast of Western Australia (also Barrow Isl), between Port Hedland and the Barkly Tableland in NE Western Australia, N Northern Territory, and NW Queensland (also South-West Isl in Gulf of Carpentaria); Watts and Aslin (1981:177); once ranged through W part of Western Australia (Robinson, 1995 c:610).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Type species of Thetomys . A close relative of P. gracilicaudatus to the exclusion of other species of Pseudomys, judged by analyses of electrophoretic data (Baverstock et al., 1977 a, 1981); but a member of the group that includes only P. australis, P. gouldi, and P. higginsi based on phallic morphology (Lidicker and Brylski, 1987); however, not distinctive relative to most other species in the genus as judged by spermatozoal form (Breed, 1983). Anatomy of mammary glands described by Griffiths and Simms (1993). Reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981) and Robinson (1995 c).