Spiked noses
| Spiked noses | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Echymipera | ||||||||||||
| Lesson , 1842 |
The stinger nose Beutler ( Echymipera ) are a marsupial genus from the group of Guinea-nose Beutler (Peroryctinae). The genus includes five species.
description
Like most nasal cones, spiked nasal cones are characterized by their elongated snout and small ears. The name-giving feature is the rough, spiky fur, which is reddish, brownish or black on the upper side. The underside is lighter, gray or light brown. The animals reach a head body length of 20 to 50 centimeters, a tail length of 5 to 13 centimeters and a weight of 500 to 2000 grams.
distribution and habitat
Barbed-nosed beetles live primarily on New Guinea and offshore islands, one species, the red bar-nosed beetle, also occurs on the Australian Cape York Peninsula . Their habitat are rainforests up to 2000 meters above sea level.
Way of life
These animals are solitary animals who have no contact with other species outside of the mating season. During the day they sleep in nests made of leaves, grass and twigs, which they build in hollow tree trunks, in the thicket or in caves in order to search for food at night. They are pure ground dwellers who build trails in the foliage layer on the ground for faster progress. Spiked-nosed bucks are omnivores, and their diet includes fruits, insects, worms and snails.
Reproduction
The females can give birth up to three times a year. The litter size is one to three young animals, they spend their first weeks of life in their mother's pouch. They become sexually mature relatively early. The maximum age of an animal in human care was just under three years.
threat
Habitat destruction and, to a lesser extent, hunting for their meat are among the main threats to spiked-nosed fish. For many species, however, there is a lack of precise data.
The species
- The flat spike-nosed bucket ( Echymipera kalubu ) is one of the smaller species. It is common throughout New Guinea and the neighboring islands and is considered common.
- The red sting-nosed bucket ( Echymipera rufescens ) is the largest species of its genus. He lives in New Guinea and on the Cape York Peninsula , making him the only representative of the New Guinea noseband in Australia . After the first find in 1932, there were no further sightings until 1970, but the animals have now been discovered in many places in northern Queensland . This species is also considered common.
- The Clara barbed -nosed bucket ( Echymipera clara ) occurs in northern New Guinea and on the island of Japen . With a weight of up to 1700 grams, it is one of the medium-sized species.
- The Menzies barbed -nosed bucket ( Echymipera echinista ) lives in a small area in central New Guinea. Little is known about the species.
- The Kiriwina spiked -nosed bucket ( Echymipera davidi ) lives only on the island of Kiriwina, which belongs to the Trobriand Islands southeast of New Guinea. Because of its small distribution area, it is likely to be endangered, but very little is known about this species.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
