Australian nasal purse
| Australian nasal purse | ||||||||||||
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Kurznasenbeutler ( Isoodon sp. ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Peramelinae | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1825 | ||||||||||||
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The Australian nasal sacs (Peramelinae) are a subfamily of the order of the nasal sacs (Peramelemorphia). This group includes eight species still alive today and four extinct.
distribution
The Australian nosebags live in Australia , Tasmania and other offshore islands. One species is also found in southern New Guinea .
description
The long, pointed snout is typical of the Australian noseband. The skull is flattened, which sets this family apart from the New Guinea nasal pods . The short fur is usually brownish in color. The front toes are provided with claws that are used for digging. The hind legs are larger than the front legs, with the second and third toes grown together and, together with the big fourth toe, bear the brunt of the locomotion. The body length is 20 to 55 cm, depending on the species, the larger species can weigh up to 3 kg.
Way of life
Australian nosebags tend to inhabit dry habitats, such as savannahs and deserts. They are predominantly nocturnal. They spend the day in self-dug buildings, hollows or grass nests, at night they go looking for food. They mainly live on the ground. Except in the mating season, they are strictly loners.
food
Australian nosebags are omnivores, they eat insects, their larvae and small vertebrates as well as fruits and other plants.
Reproduction
Unlike many other marsupials, nasal sacs have a primitive placenta . After a very short gestation period (often only two weeks), two to five young animals are born. The pouches of the nasal aspirators are well developed. The young animals remain in the bag for around 50 days, are weaned after around 60 days and are sexually mature in the second half of their life. The life expectancy of the Australian nasal aspirator is rarely more than three years in the wild, and up to eight years in captivity.
threat
Four species of the Australian noseband have already been extinct, and the other species have also seen a considerable decline in their range since the arrival of the first European settlers. The main reasons for this lie in the settlement and reclamation of the original habitat and in the persecution by introduced predators.
Systematics
The group of Australian nosebags, which is one of the typical representatives of the fauna of Australia , can be divided into two genera:
- The Kurznasenbeutler ( Isoodon ) belong to four kinds, one of them also in southern New Guinea.
- Eight species, four of which are extinct, can be distinguished in the genus of the long-nosed bucket ( Perameles ).
In the past, the pig's foot nasal cones and the rabbit nasal cones were also included in this group, which was, however, paraphyletic . These two genera are therefore regarded as separate families in more recent classifications.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0801857899
- Wilson, DE, and DM Reeder: Mammal Species of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN 0801882214