USE OF EXTERNAL MOUND STRUCTURES AS INDICATORS OF THE PRESENCE OF THEPEBBLE-MOUND MOUSE, PSEUDOMYS CHAPMANI, IN MOUND SYSTEMS

Pebble mounds constructed by Pseudomys chapmani are found throughout t he Pilbara region of Western Australia. Studies have shown that not al l mounds within an area are occupied by P. chapmani at any one time. T his paper reports a system of scoring pebble mounds on their external features to determine whether the mound is occupied by P. chapmani. Ac tive mounds were found to have a significantly higher index score than inactive mounds. The scoring system reported here is an effective pre dictor of the presence of P. chapmani in pebble mounds.