| White-tailed dunnart | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Family: | Dasyuridae |
| Genus: | Sminthopsis |
| Species: | S. granulipes |
| Binomial name | |
| Sminthopsis granulipes | |
 | |
| White-tailed dunnart range | |
The white-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis granulipes), also known as the ash-grey dunnart, is a dunnart native to Australia. [3]
A species first named by Gerard Krefft in 1872, using a specimen obtained at Albany by the local collector George Maxwell. [4] The author assigned the name Podabrus albocaudatus with a description that was published in an Eastern States newspaper, the Sydney Mail . [5] The same specimen, the holotype of the species, was described by Ellis Troughton in 1932 without reference to Krefft's earlier description. [2] Despite the precedence of Krefft's first description, later recognised as a valid and available name, the later name was in widespread use and conserved to ensure taxonomic stability; the name Podabrus albocaudatus was deemed to be an objective synonym and declared a nomen oblitum and Sminthopsis granulipes Troughton 1932 a nomen protectum. [5] [6]
A species of Sminthopsis with a head and body length from 70 to 100 mm, a tail measurement of 56–68 mm and a weight which varies from 18 to 35 grams. The upperparts of the pelage are uniform in colour, a lighter shade of fawn that merges with the white ventral side. The feet and tail are pinkish white. They are distinguished by the relative tail length, which is less than body, and its greater width at the base; a fine brown stripe occurs at the top of the tail. The soles of the feet at the hind-legs of S. granulipes are mostly covered in a uniform granular texture. [7]
This dasyurid occupies two separate areas in Western Australia. The first is east of Perth in the western Goldfields area and the second is to the north of Perth between Kalbarri and Jurien Bay. Habitat consists of coastal heath and sparse to dense shrublands sometimes with mallee eucalypt. [7]
Little is known of the behaviour and breeding of this marsupial, though it is most likely nocturnal. It breeds from June through August with young weaned by October. [7]
The white-tailed dunnart mainly eats terrestrial insects. [7]
The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', as most members of the family are insectivores.
Dunnart is a common name for species of the genus Sminthopsis, narrow-footed marsupials the size of a European mouse. They have a largely insectivorous diet.
The subfamily Sminthopsinae includes several genera of small, carnivorous marsupials native to Australia: kultarrs, ningauis, dunnarts, and planigales.
Smintopsini is a tribe of marsupial in the family Dasyuridae.
The fat-tailed dunnart is a species of mouse-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae, the family that includes the little red kaluta, quolls, and the Tasmanian devil. It has an average body length of 60–90 millimeters (2.4–3.5 in) with a tail of 45–70 millimeters (1.8–2.8 in). Ear length is 14–16 millimeters (0.55–0.63 in). One of the smallest carnivorous marsupials, its weight varies between 10–20 grams (0.35–0.71 oz). The tail becomes fat a few mm from the proximal end and remains so right up to the tip. The dunnart has trichromat vision, similar to some other marsupials as well as primates but unlike most mammals which have dichromat vision. The dunnart is often eaten by other carnivores, including invasive foxes and cats, as well as other feral animals that live among its environment.
The white-footed dunnart is a marsupial that occurs on Tasmania and mainland Australia. It occurs along the coast and in inner Gippsland and Alpine areas up to 400 metres near Narbethong. In southern New South Wales, the white-footed dunnart is known to occur at elevations at least as high as 1000 metres. The length from snout to tail tip is 14–20 cm (5.5–7.9 in) of which head and body are 7–11 cm (2.8–4.3 in) and the tail 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in) long. They weigh 19–27 g (0.67–0.95 oz).
The slender-tailed dunnart, also known as the common dunnart in Australia, is a dasyurid marsupial. It has an average body length of 7 to 12 centimeters (2.8–4.7 in) with a tail length of 5.5 to 13 centimetres (2.2–5.1 in). It weighs 25–40.8 grams for males and 16.5–25.4 grams for females.
The long-tailed dunnart is an Australian dunnart that, like the little long-tailed dunnart, has a tail longer than its body. It is also one of the larger dunnarts at a length from snout to tail of 260–306 mm of which head to anus is 80–96 mm and tail 180–210 mm long. Hind foot size is 18 mm, ear length of 21 mm and with a weight of 15-20 g.
The striped-faced dunnart is a small, Australian, nocturnal, "marsupial mouse," part of the family Dasyuridae. The species' distribution occurs throughout much of inland central and northern Australia, occupying a range of arid and semi-arid habitats.
The red-cheeked dunnart is so called because of the distinctive red hair on its cheek. It is an Australasian marsupial. Its total length is 167–270 mm (6.6–10.6 in); its average body length is 80–135 mm (3.1–5.3 in) with a tail of 87–135 mm (3.4–5.3 in). Ear length is 12–13 mm (0.47–0.51 in). Its weight varies between 18 and 75 g. Its tail is thin and pale pink.
The Kakadu dunnart is a dunnart first described in 1994 and whose closest relative is the Carpentarian dunnart. It typically has a body length of 50-85mm with a tail 60-105mm long, for a total length between 110-190mm. It weighs between 10-25g, placing it in the mid-range of dunnarts. Its colour is grey, gingery on the upper body and underbelly, with white feet.
The Carpentarian dunnart also known as Butler's dunnart is a marsupial with a puffy brown or mouse grey colour above and the underside of white, similar to its close relative the Kakadu dunnart. Head to anus length is 75-88mm with a tail of 72-90mm long for a total length of 147-178mm. Weight varies from 10-20g depending on a variety of factors including sex, food abundance, habitat etc.
The Julia Creek dunnart is a marsupial with a buffy brown upperside and white underside. This dunnart has a body length of 100–135 mm with a tail of 60–105 mm to make a total length of 160–240 mm. Its weight is between 40 and 70 g. The length of the hind foot is 22–24 mm. The species has a dark brown triangle colour from above and below the eye with the point at the nose, and another dark stripe on top of the skull. A healthy dunnart has a carrot-shaped tail filled with fat stores.
The grey-bellied dunnart, alternately spelled gray-bellied dunnart, was described by the same people Kitchener, Stoddart and Henry along with the Kangaroo Island dunnart, Gilbert's dunnart and little long-tailed dunnart in 1984. They also described the Mallee ningaui in 1983.
The hairy-footed dunnart is a dunnart that has silver hairs on the soles of it hind feet accompanied by long hair on the side of its sole. It is an Australian marsupial similar to the Ooldea dunnart, with its upper body yellow-brown and lower body white in colour. Its total length is 14.7–18 cm (5.8–7.1 in); its average body length is 7.2–8.5 cm (2.8–3.3 in) with a tail of 7.5–9.5 cm (3.0–3.7 in). Its ear length is 15 mm (0.59 in). It weighs between 13 and 19 g. Its tail is thin and pinkish-white and can be thickened at the base.
The Ooldea dunnart, also called Troughton's dunnart after the person who found the species, is an Australian marsupial similar to the hairy-footed dunnart. It is greyish-yellow on its upper body and white on the underside with dark patches on its crown, forehead and in front of the eyes, and a pink thinly furred carrot-shaped tail. Its total length is 11.5–17.3 cm (4.5–6.8 in); its average body length is 5.5–8 cm (2.2–3.1 in) with a tail of 6–9.3 cm (2.4–3.7 in). Its ear length is 14–17 mm (0.55–0.67 in). It weighs between 10 and 18 g.
The lesser hairy-footed dunnart is a small carnivorous Australian marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is a widespread and fairly common species, being found in many desert areas of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Its foraging strategies have been studied by Haythornthwaite and Dickman.
Boullanger Island lies off the coast of Western Australia and covers an area of about 35 hectares. The nearest settlement is the mainland town of Jurien Bay.
