Fawn-footed Melomys

Fawn-footed Melomys
Fawn-footed Mosaic-tailed Rat
Fawn-footed Mosaic-tailed Rat, among other fauna of Australia
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Melomys
Species: M. cervinipes
Binomial name
Melomys cervinipes
(Gould, 1852)
Melomys cervinipes

The Fawn-footed Mosaic-tailed Rat, or Fawn-footed Melomys (Melomys cervinipes) is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Australia.

This species has long been commonly known by the descriptive English common name Fawn-footed Melomys, but during the 1990s there was a push for such names to be replaced with indigenous Australian names. Accordingly, in 1995 the Australian Nature Conservation Agency published recommendations for the common names of rodents. They compiled two indigenous Australian names for this species: Corrill, recorded from Stradbroke Island; and Cunduoo, recorded from the vicinity of the Richmond River. They recommended the adoption of the former of these names, but with the orthography Korril.[2] However this recommendation was not prescriptive, and it remains to be seen to what extent it will be adopted.

References

  1. ^ Burnett, S. & Winter, J. (2008). Melomys cervinipes. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 October 2008.
  2. ^ Braithwaite R. W. et al. (1995). Australian names for Australian rodents. Australian Nature Conservation Agency. ISBN 0-642-21373-9.