It is hard to guess what a Dusky hopping mouse weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Dusky hopping mouse (Notomys fuscus) on average weights 39 grams (0.09 lbs).
The Dusky hopping mouse is from the family Muridae (genus: Notomys). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 12 cm (0′ 5″). Usually, Dusky hopping mouses have 3 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The dusky hopping mouse (Notomys fuscus) is an Australian native rodent specialised for the deep desert. Like all hopping mice it has strong front teeth, a long tail, dark eyes, big ears, well-developed haunches and very long, narrow hind feet. It weighs between 20 and 50 g (0.71 and 1.76 oz). (Compare with the common house mouse, at 10 to 25 g (0.35 to 0.88 oz).)The dusky hopping mouse has four pads on its soles. Colouration varies but tends to be pale orange, sometimes with grey tinges, and white underneath. Fur is short, fine, and soft. The long tail ends in a dark brush.Breeding is opportunistic, depending on conditions rather than the time of year. Females have four teats and the young reach maturity in about 70 days.The dusky hopping mouse is classified as vulnerable. Old records show that it once occupied a large area of Central Australia including parts of Queensland, New South Wales as far as Victoria, the Northern Territory and South Australia but it now appears to be restricted to a small number of locations in the Strzelecki Desert and nearby regions in the South Australia–Queensland border area. It is possible that some survive in the Northern Territory also, though surveys in 2000 and 2002 did not find any.The remaining populations are concentrated in sandy habitats which have consolidated dunes and perennial vegetation and are close to lakes or drainage lines. (Bear it in mind that “lakes” in Central Australia are normally dry, often for years on end: permanent surface water is very unusual.) Dusky hopping mice are nocturnal and gregarious. During the days, they shelter in very deep burrow systems. The access shafts are about 3 cm (1.2 in) in diameter and go straight down for about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in).The reasons for the decline of the dusky hopping mouse are not fully understood, but are assumed to be competition for food with introduced species, particularly cattle and rabbits, and predation by introduced cats and foxes. Decline due to predation by introduced predators appears to be a factor, since it has been found that this species is up to 40 times as abundant in areas where dingos are present, due to the dingo’s competitive exclusion of foxes.
Animals of the same family as a Dusky hopping mouse
We found other animals of the Muridae family:
- Rajah spiny rat with a weight of 150 grams
- Woolly giant rat with a weight of 116 grams
- Oligoryzomys chacoensis with a weight of 23 grams
- Oligoryzomys fulvescens with a weight of 25 grams
- California mouse with a weight of 42 grams
- Prairie vole with a weight of 42 grams
- Melanomys zunigae with a weight of 53 grams
- Akodon aerosus with a weight of 60 grams
- Abrothrix andinus with a weight of 18 grams
- Rufous-bellied bolo mouse with a weight of 32 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Dusky hopping mouse
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Notomys fuscus:
- Mole-like rice tenrec bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Edith’s leaf-eared mouse bringing 40 grams to the scale
- Halmahera blossom bat bringing 39 grams to the scale
- Four-striped grass mouse bringing 40 grams to the scale
- Spinifex hopping mouse bringing 32 grams to the scale
- Incan hocicudo bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Olrog’s chaco mouse bringing 32 grams to the scale
- Greater false vampire bat bringing 39 grams to the scale
- Mindanao montane forest mouse bringing 34 grams to the scale
- Ratanaworabhan’s fruit bat bringing 32 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Dusky hopping mouse
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Dusky hopping mouse:
- Dayak fruit bat with a size of 12.9 cm (0′ 6″)
- Pyrenean desman with a size of 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Long-eared chipmunk with a size of 14 cm (0′ 6″)
- Black-tailed dasyure with a size of 11 cm (0′ 5″)
- Tullberg’s soft-furred mouse with a size of 10.1 cm (0′ 4″)
- Zempoaltépec vole with a size of 11.8 cm (0′ 5″)
- Small Japanese mole with a size of 14 cm (0′ 6″)
- Northern gracile opossum with a size of 9.9 cm (0′ 4″)
- Panamanian spiny pocket mouse with a size of 12.5 cm (0′ 5″)
- Sandstone false antechinus with a size of 9.6 cm (0′ 4″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Dusky hopping mouse
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (3) as a Dusky hopping mouse: