Small rabbit bandicoot. Why is it listed in the Red Book
Eared marsupial badger, rabbit bandicoot, common bilby ... All these names belong to the same animal, a small marsupial mammal, whose birthplace is the sun-scorched plains of the Australian mainland.
Sultry deserts and semi-deserts in the center of Australia, rabbit bandicoots (lat. Macrotis lagotis) was not chosen by chance: it is here that herbs so beloved by them from the cereal family and acacia trees with juicy appetizing leaves grow in abundance.
Common features of all bandicoots - an elongated muzzle and long ears, which speak of excellent hearing - are also inherent in ordinary bilbies. And among the main differences are a longer tail, large round eyes and a softer silky coat than the rest. Rabbit bandicoots grow in length by 30-55 centimeters, weigh from 1 to 2.5 kilograms and are quite comparable in size to ordinary rabbits.
In addition to acacia and grasses, the menu of common bilbies includes spiders, insect larvae and small mammals. These omnivorous creatures, going hunting at night, dig out food even from the soil scorched by the sun, using strong forelimbs and sharp claws.
They also serve as a tool for digging spiral tunnels for rabbit bandicoots, in which they hide from heat and from predators. Rabbit bandicoots dig several such labyrinths at once, and sometimes the number of deep holes, spiraling underground, reaches one and a half dozen.
Unlike other marsupials, the entrance to the pouch in female rabbit bandicoots is located in the lower abdomen, which allows the cub, which is in the pouch, not to come into contact with the ground when its mother digs a hole.
- Class: Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758 = Mammals
- Infraclass: Metatheria Huxley, 1880 = Marsupials
- Order: Marsupialia Illiger, 1811 = Marsupials
- Family: Thylacomyidae = Rabbit Bandicoots
- Species: Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887 = Lesser rabbit bandicoot
Species: Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887 = Lesser rabbit bandicoot
Range: The Lesser Rabbit Bandicoot is found in Central Australia. It can be found in forests, savannah, scrub grasslands, grasslands, desert, and other plant communities.
The small rabbit bandicoot has a body weight of 300 to 1600 g, with an average of 354 g. The rabbit bandicoot is characterized by sexual dimorphism: males are larger than females. The body length of males ranges from 365-440 mm, the body length of females ranges from 320 to 390 mm. Small rabbit bandicoots have tails 115 to 275 mm long, and a pouch that opens down and back. The upper surface of the body is painted in a light color, usually gray, and the lower surface is white. The tail is white, with gray lines running towards the back of the body. The lesser rabbit bandicoot also has very long, pointed, rabbit-like ears. A unique feature of the lesser rabbit bandicoot is their legs, which each have three thick toes with curved claws, the other two toes being very small. Their hind legs have only three toes. The first toe consists of fused second and third toes. The second toe is very large, and the last toe is medium in size, the first toe is missing.
The Lesser Rabbit Bandicoot breeds between March and May. The gestation period is 21 days. The lesser rabbit bandicoot has a pouch in which the young remain for 70 to 75 days. Here they are breastfeeding, and they are sort of tied to one of the mother's nipples during this whole time. Fourteen days after leaving the pouch, the young begin to wean from breastfeeding. In a litter, as a rule, there are from 1 to 3 newborns. Mating occurs again 50 days after the birth of the cubs.
Behavior. The lesser rabbit bandicoot is a terrestrial, nocturnal desert mammal. They sleep sitting up, unlike other animals. The lesser rabbit bandicoot sits on its hind legs with its muzzle between its legs, resting their long ears over their eyes, and in this position they sleep. Due to poor eyesight, the lesser rabbit bandicoot relies more on its keen sense of smell and hearing to forage.
The main predators of small rabbit bandicoots are foxes and cats, birds of prey, monitor lizards, and predatory marsupials. Lesser rabbit bandicoot is a solitary animal, it is distinguished by its ability to dig, they lay a network of spiral tunnels in the sand dunes. These tunnels are about 9 feet long and 5 feet deep. The tunnel exit is camouflaged to prevent enemeies from entering the nest.
The lesser rabbit bandicoot is omnivorous, feeding mainly on small insects, fruits, and seeds. Their diet consists mainly of ants, termites, beetles, various larvae, seeds, fruits, and fungi. Small rabbit bandicoot does not need to drink water, they get water from fruits and seeds in sufficient quantities. Their wilderness habitats are harsh, so it happens that when food is scarce, female Lesser Bandicoots may resort to eating their young in order to survive.
Small rabbit bandicoots were once hunted by humans for their smooth, silky coat.
Species status on the IUCN Red List: Extinct. The lesser rabbit bandicoot was once common, but populations have been drastically reduced as a result of hunting for skins, predation by introduced foxes, and competition with rabbits for food and burrows. The lesser rabbit bandicoot was last harvested in 1931 and is now considered extinct.
Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887 (IV, 16)
Why is it listed in the Red Book
Rare species, currently may not exist. The decrease in numbers is associated with uncontrolled hunting and the introduction of foxes.
How to find out
Body length 24-27 cm. Tail length 14-22 cm. The muzzle is long, cone-shaped, hairless at the end. The ears are very long and bare. The hairline is high, silky. There are two color forms.
One, lighter, with a chestnut-gray back and sides; the proximal 3/5 of the tail has a gray stripe along the top. Darker form with blackish gray back and sides and dark gray belly; the proximal 2/3 of the tail has a blackish stripe along the top. The end of the tail with a comb of hair on the dorsal side.
Where does it live
They were widely distributed in the central regions of Australia. The last find was made in 1967, when the skull of a lesser rabbit bandicoot was found in an eagle's nest in central Australia.
Lifestyle and biology
They inhabit arid places, sandy plains covered with sparse vegetation, small saltworts. Stay single. Active at night. Burrows up to 1-2 m deep, closed from the inside, serve as a refuge. Animals dig them up themselves. They eat mainly rodents, as well as seeds.
The breeding season is from March to May, but is usually regulated by rainfall and food availability. There are 1-3 cubs in a litter.
Rabbit bandicoot (lat. Macrotis lagotis) is one of the rarest marsupial mammals. It differs from other representatives of the Bandicoots (Peramelemorphia) squad by an extraordinary craving for the construction of underground structures and an addiction to food of animal origin.
Bandicoot digs holes so fast that it is almost impossible to catch him even with a shovel. It will easily give a huge head start to even the most experienced and fast digger. For this reason, its two-tone (black at the base and white at the end) ponytail with a bald tip has long been highly valued by the Australian Aborigines. The owner of such a treasure is considered a dexterous, cunning person and enjoys well-deserved authority in his native tribe.
The meat of the rabbit bandicoot is edible and was eaten by European settlers.
They hunted him not with a digging stick, but with the help of firearms, so by the end of the 19th century, there were significantly fewer previously numerous animals. Foxes and dogs brought from Europe also contributed to the extermination of rare animals. At one time in Australia, the silky, bluish-tinted fur of the eared handsome man was very popular and was quite expensive. It was called Bilby's rabbit fur.
Behavior
A hundred years ago, rabbit bandicoots were found on 70% of the territory of the Australian continent, inhabiting forests, savannahs and bushes. Now small populations have survived only in desert and semi-desert areas, predominantly in the western regions of Australia.
The animal is active at night, and during the day it sleeps in its own dug hole.
A shelter up to 2-2.5 m deep has one inlet and a spiral shape. During sleep, the bandicoot does not lie, but sits on its hind legs, putting its muzzle between its front legs and covering its eyes with long ears. In search of food, he goes out with the advent of twilight, moving around the neighborhood in small jumps.
Most bandicoots lead a solitary lifestyle, but couples are often found. On one home site, one animal can dig up to 12 underground shelters, in which it rests alternately.
The rabbit bandicoot is omnivorous. He digs up food with his strong front paws. The diet consists mainly of insects and their larvae, worms and roots of various plants. The necessary moisture is obtained from food, so representatives of this species may not drink water at all for a long time.
reproduction
Previously, these marsupials, living in more favorable conditions with seasonal changes in climatic conditions, bred from March to May. Now dry terrain they breed all year round.
Pregnancy lasts about 14 days. The female brings one or two babies. Newborns are very small and helpless, like all marsupial mammals. They stay in the bag for up to two weeks. Females become sexually mature at the age of 180-220 days, and males at 270-420.
Description
The body length of adults ranges from 29 to 55 cm. The length of the tail is 20-29 cm. The weight reaches 0.6-2.5 kg. Males are significantly larger than females.
The fur is long and silky. The upper part of the body is painted in gray-blue, and the lower part is light gray. The head is elongated, the snout is pointed and hairless. Ears are long. The front paws are armed with strong claws. The hind legs are longer than the front legs and are adapted for jumping.
The lifespan of rabbit bandicoots in the wild is not exactly known. In captivity, with good care, they live up to 7 years.
it bilby, he is - rabbit bandicoot, or an eared marsupial badger, or an ordinary bilby (lat. Macrotis lagotis) is a species of marsupial mammals from the rabbit bandicoot family (Thylacomyidae).
Lives in Australia. It feeds on insects, larvae and rodents. It breeds in autumn. The offspring is small (1-2 cubs). It has beautiful long silky fur, the trade of which, in addition to low fecundity, has led to a small number of this species.
Bilbies are distinguished from other bandicoots by their long silky bluish-gray fur, very long ears, like those of a rabbit, and also a long, well-furred tail; the very tip of the tail is devoid of hair, and the entire tail is sharply bicolored (black at the base and white at the end).
The molars are large, in adults - with a completely smooth concave surface; in this they differ from the sharply tubercular indigenous other bandicoots. In terms of lifestyle, bilbies are also different from all other members of the family: they dig deep holes, consume a large amount of meat food and are nocturnal. It is almost equal in size to an adult rabbit, which is why it is sometimes called a bilby rabbit.
Sleeping bilby in a strange position: crouching on his hind legs and sticking his muzzle between the front. The bilby's diet is mixed: it eats insects and their larvae, as well as small mammals, such as mice. His fangs are strong, like those of cats, and the animal can strongly bite someone who carelessly touches him.
In other respects, he is not at all aggressive towards a person. Hunts at night, mainly with the help of smell and hearing; vision is poorly developed. Bilbies live in pairs, each pair in its own hole. Breeding occurs in autumn (March to May). In contrast to real rabbits, bilbies are infertile: usually there are no more than one or two young ones in the brood, although there are 8 nipples in the milky field of the female. The bag opens down and back.
Burrow is a bilby's best defense. For digging, the bilby uses its front paws with wide claws and a bare tip of the tail, with which it levels the ground accumulating behind. The burrow quickly spirals down to a depth of 1.5 m and even deeper. There is no second outlet. The animal lives in the very depths of the hole, and it is difficult to extract it from there. If, having established that the bilby is in a hole, start tearing it open with a shovel, then the bilby also digs in the opposite direction at such a speed that it cannot be caught.
Aborigines value the skin and skin of bilbies. His black and white tail is their favorite decoration. At the beginning of colonization, the bilby was widely distributed in the southern half of the Australian mainland. Probably, the natives, even before the arrival of the Europeans, partially exterminated this infertile animal.
Over the past hundred years, its range has especially decreased, since the fight against rabbits (traps, poisoned baits) has simultaneously undermined the number of bilbies.
The fox brought to Australia also intensively destroys it. Bilby skins were at one time traded in Adelaide markets. Currently, the bilby has disappeared from all inhabited areas, with the exception of the southwestern part of Western Australia. In addition, it is occasionally found in semi-deserts, unsuitable for its existence.
Interesting fact:
The Australian Mint in January 2011 released the fourth coin of the amazingly beautiful Australian Bush Babies series featuring a bilby. Previously issued coins have been dedicated to baby kangaroos, sugar gliders and dingoes.
On the obverse of the coins there is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, "ELISABETH II AUSTRALIA 2010". The reverse shows in color a beautiful little bilby with sparkling eyes. The artist Elise Martinson was able to convey the innocence and tenderness of a small creature in such a way that it is impossible to tear yourself away from the coin. The background of the reverse reflects the features of the bilby's habitat and features of the "friendly" Australian insects.