Northern bettong

Northern bettong[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Potoroidae
Genus: Bettongia
Species: B. tropica
Binomial name
Bettongia tropica
Wakefield, 1967
Distribution of the northern bettong

The northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) is a small potoroid marsupial which is restricted to some areas of mixed open Eucalyptus woodlands and Allocasuarina forests bordering rainforests in far northeastern Queensland, Australia.

This bettong is a solitary animal and is nocturnal. It spends the day in a well concealed nest constructed beneath either a tree within a clump of grass or from other litter collected at ground level. Nesting material is carried using its prehensile tail. Ectomycorrhizal fungal sporocarps are the staple diet of the northern bettong. These are dug from beneath the soil at the bases of trees, and work to date suggests substantial nightly movements are often required to detect this patchily distributed food source. Other foods in the diet include grass roots and tubers, lilies, herbs, and sedges. The northern bettong appears to breed all year round, and like other relatives of the kangaroos, the joey is carried in a pouch until it is old enough to follow the mother as a 'young-at-foot'.

The northern bettong is an endangered animal, and only populates three regions of Queensland, Australia, all within 80 miles of each other.

References

  1. ↑ 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. pp. 57–58. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
  2. ↑ Burnett, S. & Winter, J. (2008). "Bettongia tropica". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2008. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 29 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as endangered


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