Eastern bettong

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Eastern bettong [1]
Bettongia gaimardi.jpg
CITES Appendix I (CITES) [3]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Potoroidae
Genus: Bettongia
Species:
B. gaimardi
Binomial name
Bettongia gaimardi
(Desmarest, 1822)
Subspecies

Bettongia gaimardi cuniculus
Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi

Contents

Eastern Bettong2.png
Present distribution of Bettongia gaimardi

The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi), also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like most marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia (B. g. gaimardi) is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies (B. g. cuniculus) have been reintroduced there. [1] [4]

The animal is called balbo by the Ngunnawal, an Aboriginal people who used to keep them as pets.[ dubious ]

Subspecies

Two formerly recognised species, Bettongia cuniculus (Tasmanian bettong) and Bettongia gaimardi (eastern bettong), were placed into a single species with two subspecies by Wakefield in 1967: [5] [6]

The introduction of the red fox and European rabbit to Australia led to the extinction of the mainland subspecies during the 1920s. [2] [6] The Tasmanian subspecies still exists. [2]

In 2012, a small population was reintroduced to the mainland in Canberra. [7] The reintroduction to Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary was successful, and led to further reintroductions using an on-site breeding program out of the nearby Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and wild eastern bettongs translocated from Tasmania. [8]

Diet and behaviour

This animal's habitat is dry, open eucalypt forests and grassy woodlands at altitudes between sea level and 1,000 meters.

A major component of their diet is truffles and other underground fungi, as well as roots and tubers. Insects and grubs are also eaten. It is unique in that it will travel up to 1.5 km from its nest to a feeding area, a considerable distance for such a small creature. [9]

A nocturnal animal, the bettong sleeps during the day in a domed nest. The nests are made with densely woven grass, leaves and shredded bark in a sheltered site such as a shallow depression in the ground or under a fallen log or clump of vegetation. The animal uses its curved prehensile tail to transport the nesting materials to the nest site. [9] The animal only uses the nest for one or two nights, before it moves on in search of food.

Like other bettongs, the eastern bettong is a continuous breeder, producing young throughout the year. [10] The gestation period is 21 days, after which the infant (referred to as a "joey") remains in the pouch for an additional 105 days.

Threats

While the mainland population became extinct in the 1920s, [2] [6] the Tasmanian population has remained secure. [2] One concern is that most of the bettongs are found on private land, with only two groups found within reserves. Red foxes are a major threat. [11] [12] The International Union for Conservation of Nature has raised the threat status for eastern bettongs from least concern to near threatened. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freycinet National Park</span> Protected area in Tasmania, Australia

Freycinet National Park is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island. Founded in 1916, it is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park. Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the largest nearby town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay. Features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potoroidae</span> Family of marsupials

Potoroidae is a family of marsupials, small Australian animals known as bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. All are rabbit-sized, brown, jumping marsupials and resemble a large rodent or a very small wallaby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger quoll</span> Carnivorous marsupial native to Australia

The tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia. With males and females weighing around 3.5 and 1.8 kg, respectively, it is the world's second-largest extant carnivorous marsupial, behind the Tasmanian devil. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate is found in wet forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, and a northern subspecies, D. m. gracilis, is found in a small area of northern Queensland and is endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern barred bandicoot</span> Species of mammal

The eastern barred bandicoot is a nocturnal, rabbit-sized marsupial endemic to southeastern Australia, being native to the island of Tasmania and mainland Victoria. It is one of three surviving bandicoot species in the genus Perameles. It is distinguishable from its partially-sympatric congener – the long-nosed bandicoot – via three or four dark horizontal bars found on its rump. In Tasmania, it is relatively abundant. The mainland population in Victoria is struggling and is subject to ongoing conservation endeavors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woylie</span> Species of marsupial

The woylie or brush-tailed bettong is a small, critically endangered mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is active at night, digging for fungi to eat. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. Once widespread, the woylie mostly died out from habitat loss and introduced predators such as foxes. It is currently restricted to two small areas in Western Australia. There were two subspecies: B. p. ogilbyi in the west, and the now-extinct B. p. penicillata in the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threatened fauna of Australia</span> Animals at risk of becoming extinct

Threatened fauna of Australia are those species and subspecies of birds, fish, frogs, insects, mammals, molluscs, crustaceans, and reptiles to be found in Australia that are in danger of becoming extinct. This article lists species classified as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian pygmy possum</span> Species of marsupial

The Tasmanian pygmy possum, also known as the little pygmy possum or tiny pygmy possum, is the world's smallest possum. It was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1888, after he identified that a museum specimen labelled as an eastern pygmy possum in fact represented a species then unknown to science. The holotype resides in the Natural History Museum in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern quoll</span> Species of marsupial

The eastern quoll is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial (dasyurid), and one of six extant species of quolls. Endemic to Australia, they occur on the island state of Tasmania, but were considered extinct on the mainland after 1963. The species has been reintroduced to fox-proof fenced sanctuaries Victoria in 2003 and to the Australian Capital Territory in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern bettong</span> Species of marsupial

The northern bettong is a small, endangered, gerbil-like mammal native to forests in northeast Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and lives in burrows, feeding at night on roots and fungi. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. The northern bettong is threatened by habitat loss, and is now restricted to a few small areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boodie</span> Species of marsupial

The boodie, also known as the burrowing bettong or Lesueur's rat-kangaroo, is a small, furry, rat-like mammal native to Australia. Once common throughout the continent, it is now restricted to a few coastal islands. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives in burrows and is active at night when it forages for fungi, roots, and other plant matter. It is about the size of a rabbit and, like most marsupials, carries its young in a pouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western barred bandicoot</span> Species of marsupial

The Western barred bandicoot, also known as the Shark Bay bandicoot or the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuaries on the mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bettong</span> Genus of marsupials

Bettongs, species of the genus Bettongia, are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecosystem engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary</span> Protected area in Australian Capital Territory

Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary is a protected area situated in the Gungahlin district in north Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It has several trails for walking, running and cycling. The sanctuary functions as a fieldwork site for researchers studying native ecology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red foxes in Australia</span>

Red foxes pose a serious conservation problem in Australia. 2012 estimates indicate that there are more than 7.2 million red foxes, with a range extending throughout most of the continental mainland. The species became established in Australia through successive introductions, by settlers, beginning around the 1830s. Due to its rapid spread and ecological impact, it has been classified as one of the most damaging invasive species in Australia.

The Peter Murrell Conservation Area is located in Huntingfield, Tasmania, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the state's capital city, Hobart. The conservation area has an area of 135 ha and is one of three reserves within the Peter Murrell Reserves. Also within these reserves are the Peter Murrell State Reserve and a Public Reserve. These reserves and the Conservation Area lie at the base of the Tinderbox Peninsula, between the suburbs of Kingston, Howden and Blackman's Bay. The Peter Murrell Conservation Area surrounds the northern, western and southern sides of the Peter Murrell State Reserve.

Heirisson Prong is a community managed reserve established for the conservation of threatened mammals at Shark Bay in Western Australia. The reserve is at the point of a long narrow peninsula of the same name that juts into Shark Bay from the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian temperate forests</span> Ecoregion in Tasmania, Australia

The Tasmanian temperate forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Australia. The ecoregion occupies the eastern portion of the island of Tasmania, which lies south of the Australian mainland.

References

  1. 1 2 Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 57. ISBN   0-801-88221-4. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burbidge, A.A.; Woinarski, J.; Johnson, C.N. (2016). "Bettongia gaimardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T2783A21960911. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T2783A21960911.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  4. Rose, R. (1997). Metabolic rate and thermal conductance in a mycophagous marsupial, Bettongia gaimardi . Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine The World Wide Web Journal of Biology 2: 2-7.
  5. Wakefield, N. (1967). Some taxonomic revision in the Australian marsupial genus Bettongia, with description of a new species. The Victorian Naturalist. 84:8-22.
  6. 1 2 3 Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2011). Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:51:31 +1100. (http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66656)
  7. ABC News Rare marsupials found fat and happy in new home http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-20/marsupials-found-fat-and-happy-in-their-new-home/4472690
  8. "Eastern Bettong Reintroduction". www.mfgowoodlandexperiment.org.au. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  9. 1 2 Department of Primary Industries and Water (August 2006). The Tasmanian bettong]. Department of Primary Industries and Water.
  10. University of Tasmania, School of Zoology. Archived 2009-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Profile – Tasmanian Bettong]. University of Tasmania.
  11. Department of Primary Industries and Water - Foxes in Tasmania http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/ThemeNodes/LBUN-5K438G
  12. Foxes in Tasmania-Invasive Animals CRC Report http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/publications/lbun-6r26gg?