Predator

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Predator
Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisi)

Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisi )

Systematics
without rank: Synapsids (Synapsida)
Class : Mammals (mammalia)
Subclass : Marsupials (Marsupialia)
Superordinate : Australidelphia
Order : Raubbeutleriformes (Dasyuromorphia)
Family : Predator
Scientific name
Dasyuridae
Goldfuss , 1820

The Raubbeutler (Dasyuridae) are a family within the marsupial order of the Predator-like (Dasyuromorphia). This group, which includes around 75 species, includes, among other things, bag-marten , bag-devil and bag-mice .

distribution

Predatory predators are found in Australia , New Guinea , Tasmania and other offshore islands.

description

Predatory baggers are basically similar in physique, but there are significant differences in size. Flat-headed pouch mice and Ningauis are sometimes only around 10 centimeters long and weigh 5 grams, the marsupial devil, the largest species, is over a meter long and weighs over 10 kilograms. The front and rear legs are approximately the same length, on the front legs they have five, on the hind legs four or five toes, these are separate (in contrast to the Diprotodontia ). In some tree-dwelling species, the big toe is opposable . The 42 to 46 teeth are designed for the consumption of meat. Predator teeth have many small incisors , large canines and molars with sharp chewing surfaces.

Way of life

Predator animals are predominantly nocturnal, during the day they crawl into earthworks, hollow tree trunks or in nests made of grass, twigs and leaves. Most of the species are ground dwellers, although there are also some species of bag mice that predominantly live in trees. They are considered skilled hunters with sharp senses. Predatory baggers are mainly carnivores. Depending on their size, the smaller ones feed on insects and other arthropods , the larger ones also on vertebrates , and sometimes they can overwhelm animals that are the same size or larger than themselves. Some species also consume nectar or carrion.

Reproduction

Although predatory pouches are marsupials , not all species have a pouch. Sometimes the young animals are also housed in belly folds, in other species a pouch only develops during pregnancy. Females usually have six to eight teats and are characterized by a relatively long gestation period for marsupials. A peculiarity of some genera such as the broad-footed pouch mice or brushtail pouches is that almost all males die at the same time after the first mating, i.e. often only live ten to eleven months. The life expectancy of the other species is also low; many pouch mice do not get older than two to three years.

threat

Many species have lost parts of their original habitat due to human influences - especially since the arrival of the Europeans. These influences are, on the one hand, the colonization and conversion of steppes and forests into arable land and pastures, and on the other hand, the introduction of predatory animals that did not originally occur in Australia, such as dingoes , cats or foxes . Six predator species are classified as endangered by the IUCN .

Genera and species

Spot tail Quolls ( Dasyurus maculatus )
Yellow-footed pouch mouse ( Antechinus flavipes )
Thick-tailed narrow-foot bag mouse ( Sminthopsis crassicaudata )

The larger and better known species include the marsupial devil and the bag marten . Many smaller genera and species are grouped under the term " bag mice ", although this term does not represent a biological classification, as some species are more closely related to the large predatory mammals than to each other.

The Predator are divided into the following genera:

The internal system is illustrated by the following cladogram , which also shows that the genus of the narrow-foot bag mice ( Sminthopsis ) is not monophyletic .

 Dasyuromorphia 
 Thylacinidae 

Beutelwolf ( Thylacinus cynocephalus )


   
 Myrmecobiidae 

Numbat ( Myrmecobius fasciatus )


 Dasyuridae 
 Dasyurinae 
 Dasyurini 




Spitzhörnchenbeutler ( Neophascogale lorentzi )


   

Striped sac mice ( Phascolosorex )



   

Tasmanian devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii )


   

Bag marten ( Dasyurus )




   


Red broad-footed pouch mouse ( Dasykaluta rosamondae )


   

Speckled pouch mouse ( Parantechinus apicalis )


   

Striped marten ( Myoictis )




   

Double-comb pouch mouse ( Dasyuroides byrnei )


   

Dasycercus





   

Fat-tailed pouch mice ( Pseudantechinus )



 Phascogalini 


Brushtail Butler ( Phascogale )


   

New Guinea bag mice ( Murexia )



   

Broad-footed pouch mice ( Antechinus )




 Sminthopsinae 
 Sminthopsini 



Sminthopsis Murina Group


   

Ningauis ( Ningaui )



   

Long-tailed narrow-foot bag mouse ( Sminthopsis longicaudata )


   

Springbag mouse ( Antechinomys laniger )




   

Sminthopsis Macroura Group



 Planigalini 

Flat head pouch mice ( Planigale )






literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Michael Westerman, Carey Krajewski, Benjamin P. Kear, Lucy Meehan, Robert W. Meredith, Christopher A. Emerling, Mark S. Springer: Phylogenetic relationships of dasyuromorphian marsupials revisited. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 176, Issue 3, March 2016, pp. 686-701, doi: 10.1111 / zoj.12323

Web links

Commons : Raubbeutler  - Collection of images, videos and audio files