The Vanished Rabbit-Rat That Triggered Australia’s Extinction Crisis

The post The Vanished Rabbit-Rat That Triggered Australia’s Extinction Crisis appeared first on A-Z Animals.

When you think of rats, you think of relatively small rodents. These dimensions did not apply to the white-footed rabbit rat of Australia, as it grew to the size of a kitten. Once a relatively widespread rodent in the land down under, the white-footed rabbit rat quickly became a problem for European settlers.

Within several decades, however, this large rodent with expressive eyes had all but vanished, with the last specimen recorded in the mid-19th century. While the exact reason these rodents went extinct remains a mystery, the speed at which they disappeared heralded a disturbing pattern in modern mammal extinctions. Let’s learn more about this once-abundant rat and why its rapid extinction triggered the widespread ecological collapse that modern Australia still faces.

Meet the Rabbit Rat

Stories of the white-footed rabbit rat were recorded not long after the arrival of European settlers to Australia in the 18th century. They were large for rodents—roughly the size of small kittens—with brown to grey-brown fur, white feet, and large, broad ears. Being nocturnal, white-footed rabbit rats spent their nights foraging for food and their days hidden inside fallen logs and trees.

European settlers noted that these rodents were widespread, ranging from Adelaide all the way to Sydney on the opposite side of the country. They quickly became a problem for settlers, with at least one record from 1788 noting frustration at the white-footed rabbit rats breaking into food stores. Within less than a hundred years, however, these sizable rodents were all but extinct. Why?

Reasons for Extinction

By the mid-19th century, white-footed rabbit rats were all but gone. The last specimen was recorded around 1845, though some other reports noted them for a few more decades. Nevertheless, they were, for all intents and purposes, gone by the 20th century.

Some believe that the arrival of European rats may have given them new competitors for the same food sources. Others believe cats hunted them to extinction. Another reason may have been the end of Aboriginal firestick farming, which maintained the woodlands that were the rabbit rat’s preferred habitat. Settlers had so radically altered Australia’s landscape that its previously distinct collection of native creatures was greatly diminished. The destruction of countless eucalyptus forests to create farmland undoubtedly contributed to the rabbit rat’s demise.

An Ominous Sign

Contemporary scientists believe that the white-footed rabbit rat’s extinction was but the opening salvo in a long war against Australia’s mammal diversity. Perhaps more than any other continent on Earth, Australia has suffered at the hands of human intervention. In less than 200 years, the land down under has lost over a tenth of its mammal species.

Only time will tell if Australia can find a degree of ecological balance. Otherwise, the steady destruction of its ecological networks will only cause the land to produce fewer signs of life. In a world enduring another mass extinction event, the loss of just one species is a global tragedy.

The post The Vanished Rabbit-Rat That Triggered Australia’s Extinction Crisis appeared first on A-Z Animals.