#0410 · 🦊 mammals

Rakali

🇳🇱 Australische Beverrat ·Hydromys chrysogaster

LCleast concern 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

Hydromys chrysogaster , commonly known as rakali , rabe or water-rat , is an Australian native rodent first described in 1804. The change to the aboriginal name Rakali was intended to foster a positive public attitude by Environment Australia. It is the only member of the genus Hydromys with a range extending beyond Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua. Having effectively adapted and colonised a unique niche of semiaquatic and nocturnal lifestyle, this species lives in burrows on...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 2,934iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
2,934 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1804 (222 years ago).