Short-tailed hopping mouse

Notomys amplus

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: Notomys amplus were last seen in 1896 in Charlotte Waters, NT (IUCN 2023)

IUCN claim: “The reasons for the loss of this species are unknown, but may be related to predation by introduced species such as foxes and feral cats”

Studies in support

No studies

Studies not in support

Short-tailed hopping mice were last confirmed at Charlotte Waters, NT, 19-14 years before foxes arrived (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

The extinction record pre-dates the fox arrival record.

Evidence linking Notomys amplus to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.
Evidence linking Notomys amplus to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.

References

Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).

IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023

Wallach A.D., Lundgren E.J. (2025) Review of evidence that foxes and cats cause extinctions of Australia’s endemic mammals. BioScience. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaf046