Observations on the Diets of the Long-Tailed Mouse, Pseudomys higginsi, and the Velvet-furred Rat, Rattus lutreolus velutinus, in Southern Tasmania.

Abstract

Diets of two sympatric murids, Pseudomys higginsi and Rattus lutreolus were studied by faecal analysis during spring and summer in wet sclerophyll forest and sub-alpine woodland on Mount Wellington, Tasmania. Both species were omnivorous but their overall diet differed with Pseudomys higginsi consuming a broader range of food items than Rattus lutreolus. P. higginsi diet tended to reflect the difference in food availability between locations and between seasons. Main items in the diet of P. higginsi at both locations were fruits, monocotyledons (mostly grasses), mosses, fungi and invertebrates. Proportions of fruits and mosses in the diet differed between locations. Mosses and ferns were most common in the diet during spring whereas monocotyledons and some dicotyledons were more common during summer. R. lutreolus diet showed little variation between locations and seasons. Main items in the diet of R. lutreolus were monocotyledons (sedges and grasses), fungi and invertebrates. The importance of mosses and fungi as dietary items are discussed. The results of this study support a developing view of resource partitioning between sympatric Rattus and Pseudomys populations in Tasmania and New South Wales.