Creator Gould's Mammals of Australia (1845-1863)

Date 1863

Fawn Hopping Mouse (Notomys cervinus) is native to the central Australian desert. Classified as a vulnerable species..Gould was charmed by the 'Fawn-coloured Hapalotis, Hapalotis cervinus', conceding 'that the present animal is the most graceful and elegant of the Jerboa-like Hapalotis' family, then he quotes explorer Sturt's encounter: 'This beautiful little animal burrows in the ground like a mouse, but their habitations have several passages leading straight, like radii of a circle, to a common centre, to which a shaft is sunk from above, so that there is a complete circulation of air along the whole. We fed our little captives on oats, on which they thrived and became exceedingly tame.'

Source: Smithsonian Library