 The former distribution of the species, prior to English colonisation, is proposed to have been widespread.Subfossil material is poorly represented at sites in Victoria, but this may be due to misattribution of specimens to the species "Pseudomys" ("Thetomys") "gracilicaudatus".Misidentification with native species of rats, "Rattus fuscipes" and "Rattus lutreolus", which they superficially resemble, and this may account for their absence in assessments of a region's mammal fauna, such as the extension of the range from Kangaroo Island to the South Australian mainland.