Murgonotribos

The **Australian shrew** (*Murgonotribos mickeli*) is a species of australosphenid mammal of the family Ausktribosphenidae, most closely related to the monotremes, that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the tropical and subtropical rainforests across New Guinea and Australia to help boost biodiversity. The Australian shrew has a total length of 108 to 140 mm (4.3 to 5.5 inches), of which 18 to 32 mm (0.71 to 1.26 inches) is tail; and weighs 15 to 30 grams (0.53 to 1.06 oz). The species exhibits slight sexual dimorphism in size, with the male being slightly larger than the female. In general appearance, the Australian shrew is very similar to true, placental shrews, lacking the bill of its monotreme relatives, its elongated head with long nostrils, and its slim body. Unlike true shrews, however, it possesses venomous calcneal spurs on its hind feet. This shrew consumes up to three times its weight in food each day. It eats small quantities of subterranean fungi and seeds, though it is mostly carnivorous. It prefers insects, earthworms, slugs, snails, and frogs for the bulk of its diet, though salamanders, as well as native and nonnative mice, are also eaten. Typically nocturnal and solitary, the Australian shrew exhibits several aggressive displays and vocalizations to ward off other members of the species when encounters occur. Mating occurs between June and October, the precise timing of the mating season varies with geographic location. Male Australian shrews in captivity were observed to make clicking sounds while courting a female. During copulation, the male and female are locked together, and the female drags the male along with her. Fertilisation occurs in the oviduct. Gestation takes between 21 and 28 days after copulation, during which time the female constructs a nursery burrow. Following the gestation period, several, rubbery-skinned, bead-sized egg are laid from her cloaca directly into a small, backward-facing pouch that has developed on her abdomen. The eggs are ovoid, leathery, soft, and cream-coloured. Between laying and hatching, some females continue to forage for food, while others dig burrows and rest there until hatching, slowing her metabolism greatly to avoid starving while feeding her young and while guarding her eggs and young. Ten days after they are laid, the eggs hatch within the pouch. The embryos develops an egg tooth during incubation, which they use to tear open the eggs; the egg tooth disappears soon after hatching. After hatching, young Australian shrews are known as "puggles". Although newborns are still semitranslucent and still surrounded by the remains of the egg yolk, and the eyes are still barely developed, they already have well-defined front limbs and digits that allow them to climb on their mothers' bodies. Hatchlings attach themselves to their mothers' milk areolae, specialised patches on the skin that secrete milk, like monotremes, through about 100–150 pores. The puggles are thought to feed by sucking the areolae. Juveniles are eventually ejected from the pouch at around two to three months of age, because of the continuing growth in the length of their spines. The juvenile pelage is pale and is molted when the young reaches adult size. During this period, the young are left in covered burrows while the mothers forage, and the young are often preyed upon. Suckling gradually decreases until juveniles are weaned at about six months of age. The duration of lactation is about 200 days, and the young leave the burrow after 180 to 205 days, usually in January or February. There is no contact between the mother and young after this point. The conservation status of the Australian shrew is **Least Concern** due to successful conservation efforts, the Australian shrew's wide range and its tolerance to many of the human activities.