This Australian mouse was declared extinct. It turns out, the species has been surviving on an island.
A mouse thought to have been wiped out more than 150 years ago has been found by researchers on a western Australian island.
Researchers at Australian National University said they've "taxonomically resurrected" Gould's mouse, a species previously declared extinct, that now survives on an island in Shark Bay, Western Australia. This means the number of Australia's extinct mammals will drop from 34 to 33, the study's lead author, Emily Roycraft, wrote in The Conversation.
The rodent, twice the size of the house mouse and also known by the Indigenous name "Djoongari," was once found across the country, Roycraft wrote. The species was last seen in 1857, likely due to the introduction of invasive species such as feral cats and foxes, as well as agricultural land clearing and new diseases, according to an ANU statement.
Islands like Shark Bay have been a vital refuge for the mice, offering protection from predators and other threats on the mainland, Roycraft wrote.
Researchers compared DNA samples from eight Australian rodent species to study the decline of native species since European colonization in Australia, according to the study. They found the extinct Gould's mouse was indistinguishable from the Shark Bay mouse, which can still be found on several small islands off the coast of Western Australia.
The "resurrection" of the species offers good news amid a "high rate of native rodent extinction," Roycraft said in a statement.
"It is exciting that Gould's mouse is still around, but its disappearance from the mainland highlights how quickly this species went from being distributed across most of Australia, to only surviving on offshore islands in Western Australia," she said. "It's a huge population collapse."
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The study pointed to "extremely rapid" extinction rates, especially among rodent species. Australia has the highest recorded rate of mammalian extinction in the world, according to the study, with 34 terrestrial species extinct since European colonization in 1788.
Among mammal extinctions since 1788, 41% are of native rodent species, according to the study.
"We still have a lot of biodiversity to lose here in Australia and we're not doing enough to protect it," Roycraft said.
Due to a lack of genetic diversity in the remaining Gould's mouse population, Roycraft wrote the mice are less resilient to environmental change and are vulnerable to extinction. Conservation efforts are underway to protect the species.
"Extinction doesn’t usually offer second chances, but we’ve now got another shot to protect Gould’s mouse," Roycraft wrote. "We need to act now, before it’s too late."
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extinct Gould's mouse found in Shark Bay, island in Western Australia
