Leporillus conditor (Sturt 1848)

[Mus] conditor Sturt 1848, Narr. Exped. C. Aust., Vol. 1: 120.

Type Locality: Australia, New South Wales, Polia area, about 45 miles (72 km) from Laidley Ponds; see Mahoney and Richardson (1988:160).

Vernacular Names: Greater Stick-nest Rat.

Synonyms: Leporillus jonesi Thomas 1921 .

Distribution: Australia; once ranged on mainland from lower Darling River to Nullarbor Plain in New South Wales, probably NW Victoria, South Australia, and SE corner of Western Australia, and presumed to be extinct; living population on Franklin Isl in Nuyt's Arch. of W South Australia (Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:160; Robinson et al., 2000; Watts and Aslin, 1981:147; Williams, 1995 c); rats from a captive breeding program have been released onto Reevesby, Salutation, and St. Peter Isls in S Australia (Robinson, 1995 b). Former distribution and detailed ecological information summarized by Copley (1999).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Endangered; IUCN – Endangered.

Discussion: Phylogenetic significance of spermatozoal morphology reported by Breed and Sarafis (1978) and Breed (1997); chromosomal morphology described by Baverstock et al. (1977 c). Electrophoretic data indicated L. conditor is phylogenetically closely allied to Pseudomys (Baverstock et al., 1981), but information from analyses of phallic and dental morphology placed L. conditor in same monophyletic groups as Conilurus and Mesembriomys, to the exclusion of Pseudomys (Lidicker and Brylski, 1987; Misonne, 1969). Ellis (1995 a) reviewed distribution of L. conditor in the Mootwingee National Park of W New South Wales based on historical records and subfossils. Reviewed by Watts and Aslin (1981) and Robinson (1995 b).