Notes on the diets of four rodent species from Goodenough Island
Todd F. Elliott
A B and Karl Vernes A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: toddfelliott@gmail.com
Australian Mammalogy 43(2) 256-259 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM20022
Submitted: 2 March 2020 Accepted: 27 May 2020 Published: 2 July 2020
Abstract
Goodenough Island is in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea and is located off of New Guinea’s eastern coast. Goodenough Island has a unique yet poorly studied mammal community. Previous dietary study of mycophagous New Guinean forest wallabies showed that Goodenough Island’s endemic black forest wallaby (Dorcopsis atrata) ate at least 12 taxa of fungi. Using spirit collections at the Australian Museum in Sydney, we evaluated and compared fungal diversity in rodent diets on the same island. We sampled diets of four Goodenough Island rodent species (Chiruromys forbesi, Paramelomys platyops, Rattus exulans and Rattus mordax) and show that fungi are dietary components for three of these mammals.
Additional keywords: mycophagy, rare mammals, rodents, South Pacific islands.
References
Adler, G. H., Counsell, E., Seamon, J. O., and Bentivenga, S. P. (2018). Exotic rats consume sporocarps of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in American Samoa. Mammalia 82, 197–200.| Exotic rats consume sporocarps of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in American Samoa.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Baker, G., and Coulson, A. (1948). Metamorphic and volcanic rocks from the D’Entrecasteaux Islands. Eos (Washington, D.C.) 29, 656–663.
Brass, L. J. (1956). Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 75. Summary of the fourth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1953). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 111, 81–152.
Brass, L. J. (1959). Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 79. Summary of the fifth Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (1956–1957). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 118, 1–69.
Campbell, D. J., Moller, H., Ramsay, G. W., and Watt, J. C. (1984). Observations on foods of kiore (Rattus exulans) found in husking stations on northern offshore islands of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 7, 131–138.
Claridge, A. W., and May, T. W. (1994). Mycophagy among Australian mammals. Australian Journal of Ecology 19, 251–275.
| Mycophagy among Australian mammals.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Dwyer, P. D. (1978). A study of Rattus exulans (Peale) (Rodentia: Muridae) in the New Guinea highlands. Wildlife Research 5, 221–248.
| A study of Rattus exulans (Peale) (Rodentia: Muridae) in the New Guinea highlands.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Elliott, T. F., Jusino, M. A., Trappe, J. M., Lepp, H., Ballard, G., Bruhl, J. J., and Vernes, K. (2019a). A global review of the ecological significance of symbiotic associations between birds and fungi. Fungal Diversity 98, 161–194.
| A global review of the ecological significance of symbiotic associations between birds and fungi.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Elliott, T. F., Bower, D. S., and Vernes, K. (2019b). Reptilian mycophagy: a global review of mutually beneficial associations between reptiles and macrofungi. Mycosphere 10, 776–797.
| Reptilian mycophagy: a global review of mutually beneficial associations between reptiles and macrofungi.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Flannery, T. F. (1995a). ‘Mammals of New Guinea.’ (Reed Books: Sydney.)
Flannery, T. F. (1995b). ‘Mammals of the South-west Pacific & Moluccan Islands.’ (Reed Books: Sydney.)
Fogel, R., and Trappe, J. M. (1978). Fungus consumption (mycophagy) by small animals. Northwest Science 52, 1–31.
Helgen, K. M. (2007). A taxonomic and geographic overview of the mammals of Papua. In ‘The Ecology of Papua’. (Eds A. J. Marshall, and B. M. Beehler.) pp. 689–749. (Periplus Editions (HK): Singapore.)
Jackson, K. L., and Woolley, P. A. (1993). The diet of five species of New Guinean rodents. Science in New Guinea 19, 77–86.
Matisoo-Smith, E., and Robins, J. H. (2004). Origins and dispersals of Pacific peoples: evidence from mtDNA phylogenies of the Pacific rat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 101, 9167–9172.
| Origins and dispersals of Pacific peoples: evidence from mtDNA phylogenies of the Pacific rat.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 15184658PubMed |
McPhee, E. C. (1988). Ecology and diet of some rodents from the lower montane region of Papua New Guinea. Wildlife Research 15, 91–102.
| Ecology and diet of some rodents from the lower montane region of Papua New Guinea.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Menzies, J. I. (1996). A systematic revision of Melomys (Rodentia: Muridae) of New Guinea. Australian Journal of Zoology 44, 367–426.
| A systematic revision of Melomys (Rodentia: Muridae) of New Guinea.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Menzies, J. I., and Dennis, E. (1979). ‘Handbook of New Guinea Rodents.’ Handbook No. 6. (Wau Ecology Institute: Wau, Papua New Guinea.)
Musser, G. G., and Carleton, M. D. (2005). Family Muridae. In ‘Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference’. (Eds D. E. Wilson, and D. M. Reeder.) pp. 894–1531. (The Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD.)
Nuske, S. J., Vernes, K., May, T. W., Claridge, A. W., Congdon, B. C., Krockenberger, A., and Abell, S. E. (2017). Redundancy among mammalian fungal dispersers and the importance of declining specialists. Fungal Ecology 27, 1–13.
| Redundancy among mammalian fungal dispersers and the importance of declining specialists.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pagès, M., Chaval, Y., Herbreteau, V., Waengsothorn, S., Cosson, J. F., Hugot, J. P., Morand, S., and Michaux, J. (2010). Revisiting the taxonomy of the Rattini tribe: a phylogeny-based delimitation of species boundaries. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10, 184.
| Revisiting the taxonomy of the Rattini tribe: a phylogeny-based delimitation of species boundaries.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | 20565819PubMed |
Roberts, M. (1991). Origin, dispersal routes, and geographic distribution of Rattus exulans, with special reference to New Zealand. Pacific Science 45, 123–130.
Robins, J. H., Hingston, M., Matisoo‐Smith, E., and Ross, H. A. (2007). Identifying Rattus species using mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology Notes 7, 717–729.
| Identifying Rattus species using mitochondrial DNA.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Shiels, A. B., Flores, C. A., Khamsing, A., Krushelnycky, P. D., Mosher, S. M., and Drake, D. R. (2013). Dietary niche differentiation among three species of invasive rodents (Rattus rattus, R. exulans, Mus musculus). Biological Invasions 15, 1037–1048.
| Dietary niche differentiation among three species of invasive rodents (Rattus rattus, R. exulans, Mus musculus).Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Taylor, J. M., Calaby, J. H., and Van Deusen, H. M. (1982). A revision of the genus Rattus (Rodentia, Muridae) in the New Guinean region. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 173, 177–336.
Vernes, K., and Lebel, T. (2011). Truffle consumption by New Guinea forest wallabies. Fungal Ecology 4, 270–276.
| Truffle consumption by New Guinea forest wallabies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
