Numbat
Encyclopedia
The numbat also known as the banded anteater, or walpurti, is a marsupial
found in Western Australia
. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termite
s. Once widespread across southern Australia
, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species
. The numbat is an emblem
of Western Australia and protected by conservation
programs.
Myrmecobius is the sole member of the family
Myrmecobiidae; one of the three families that make up the order
Dasyuromorphia
, the Australian marsupial carnivore
s.
The species is not closely related to other extant marsupials; the current arrangement in the dasyuromorphia order places its monotypic family with the diverse and carnivorous species of Dasyuridae
. A closer affinity with the extinct thylacine
, contained in the same order, has been proposed. Genetic studies have shown that the ancestors of the numbat diverged from other marsupials between 32 and 42 million years ago, during the late Eocene
.
There are two recognised subspecies
. However, one of these, the rusty numbat (M. f. rufus), has been extinct since at least the 1960s, and only the nominate subspecies (M. f. fasciatus) remains alive today. As its name implies, the rusty numbat was said to have a more reddish coat than the surviving subspecies. Only a very small number of fossil specimens are known, the oldest dating back to the Pleistocene
, and no fossils belonging to other species from the same family have yet been discovered.
and a prominent, bushy tail about the same length as its body. Colour varies considerably, from soft grey to reddish-brown, often with an area of brick red on the upper back, and always with a conspicuous black stripe running from the tip of the muzzle through the eyes to the bases of the small, round-tipped ears. There are between four and eleven white stripes across the animal's hindquarters, which gradually become fainter towards the mid-back. The underside is cream or light grey, while the tail is covered with long grey hair flecked with white. Weight varies between 280 and 700 g (9.9 and 24.7 ).
Unlike most other marsupials, the numbat is diurnal
, largely because of the constraints of having a specialised diet without having the usual physical equipment for it. Most ecosystem
s with a generous supply of termites have a fairly large creature with a very long, thin, sticky tongue for penetrating termite colonies, and powerful forelimbs with heavy claws. There are five toes on the forefeet, and four on the hindfeet. Like other mammals that eat termites or ants, the numbat has a degenerate jaw with up to 50 very small non-functional teeth, and although it able to chew, rarely does so, because of the soft nature of its diet. Uniquely among terrestrial mammals, there is an additional cheek tooth between the premolar
s and molar
s; it is unclear whether this represents a supernumary molar tooth or a deciduous tooth
retained into adult life. As a result, although not individuals have the same dental formula, in general, it follows the unique pattern:
Like many ant-eating animals, the numbat has an unusually long, narrow, tongue, coated with sticky saliva
produced by large submandibular gland
s. A further adaptation to the diet is the presence of numerous ridges along the soft palate
, which apparently help to scrape termites off the tongue so that they can be swallowed. The digestive system is relatively simple, and lacks many of the adaptations found in other entomophagous
animals, presumably because termites are easier to digest than ants, having a softer exoskeleton
. Numbats are apparently able to gain a considerable amount of water from their diet, since their kidney
s lack the usual specialisations for retaining water found in other animals living in their arid environment. Numbats also possess a sternal scent gland
, which may be used for marking its territory.
Although the numbat finds termite mounds primarily using scent, it has the highest visual acuity of any marsupial, and, unusually for marsupials, has a high proportion of cone cell
s in the retina
. These are both likely adaptations for its diurnal habits, and vision does appear to be the primary sense used to detect potential predators. Numbats regularly enter a state of torpor
, which may last up to fifteen hours a day during the winter months.
from Western Australia
across as far as northwestern New South Wales
. However, the range has declined significantly since the arrival of Europeans, and the species has survived only in two small patches of land in the Dryandra Woodland
and the Perup Nature Reserve, both in Western Australia. In recent years, it has, however, been successfully reintroduced into a few fenced reserves, including some in South Australia
and New South Wales.
Today, numbats are found only in areas of eucalypt
forest, but they were once more widespread in other types of semi-arid woodland, Spinifex
grassland, and even in terrain dominated by sand dunes.
s and eat an exclusive diet of termites. An adult numbat requires up to 20,000 termites each day. The only marsupial that is fully active by day, the numbat spends most of its time searching for termites. It digs up termites from loose earth with its front claws and captures them with its long sticky tongue. Despite its banded anteater name, although the remains of ants have occasionally been found in numbat dung, these belong to species that themselves prey on termites, and so were presumably eaten accidentally, along with the main food. Known predators on numbats include carpet python
s, introduced red fox
es, and various falcons, hawks, and eagles.
Adult numbats are solitary
and territorial; an individual male or female establishes a territory of up to 1.5 square kilometres (370 acres) early in life, and defends it from others of the same sex. The animal generally remains within that territory from that time on; male and female territories overlap, and in the breeding season males will venture outside their normal home range to find mates.
While the numbat has relatively powerful claw
s for its size, it is not strong enough to get at termites inside their concrete-like mound, and so must wait until the termites are active. It uses a well-developed sense of smell to locate the shallow and unfortified underground galleries that termites construct between the nest and their feeding sites; these are usually only a short distance below the surface of the soil, and vulnerable to the numbat's digging claws.
The numbat synchronises its day with termite activity, which is temperature dependent: in winter, it feeds from mid-morning to mid-afternoon; in summer, it rises earlier, takes shelter during the heat of the day, and feeds again in the late afternoon.
At night, the numbat retreats to a nest, which can be in a hollow log or tree
, or in a burrow
, typically a narrow shaft 1-2 metres long which terminates in a spherical chamber lined with soft plant material: grass, leaves, flowers and shredded bark. The numbat is able to block the opening of its nest
, with the thick hide of its rump, to prevent a predator being able to access the burrow. Numbats have relatively few vocalisations, but have been reported to hiss, growl, or make a repetitive 'tut' sound when disturbed.
The young are 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) long at birth, and crawl to the teats, and remain attached until late July or early August, by which time they have grown to 7.5 centimetres (3 in). They first develop fur at 3 centimetres (1.2 in), and the adult coat pattern begins to appear once they reach 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in). After weaning, the young are initially left in a nest, or carried about on the mother's back, and they are fully independent by November. Females are sexually mature by the following summer, but males do not reach maturity for another year.
Until European colonisation, the numbat was found across most of the area from the New South Wales
and Victorian
borders west to the Indian Ocean
, and as far north as the southwest corner of the Northern Territory
. It was at home in a wide range of woodland and semi-arid habitats. The deliberate release of the European red fox
in the 19th century, however, wiped out the entire numbat population in Victoria, NSW, South Australia
and the Northern Territory, and almost all numbats in Western Australia as well. By the late 1970s, the population was well under 1,000 individuals, concentrated in two small areas not far from Perth
, Dryandra
and Perup.
The first record of the species described it as beautiful; its appeal saw it selected as the faunal emblem of the state of Western Australia and initiated efforts to conserve it from extinction.
It appears that the reason the two small Western Australia populations were able to survive is that both areas have many hollow logs that may serve as refuge from predators. Being diurnal, the numbat is much more vulnerable to predation than most other marsupials of a similar size: its natural predators include the Little Eagle
, Brown Goshawk
, Collared Sparrowhawk
and Carpet Python
. When the Western Australia government instituted an experimental program of fox
baiting at Dryandra (one of the two remaining sites), numbat sightings increased by a factor of 40.
An intensive research and conservation program since 1980 has succeeded in increasing the numbat population substantially, and reintroductions to fox-free areas have begun. Perth Zoo
is very closely involved in breeding this native species in captivity for release into the wild. Despite the encouraging degree of success so far, the Numbat remains at considerable risk of extinction and is classified as an endangered species
.
The numbat first became known to Europeans in 1831. It was discovered by an exploration party who were exploring the Avon Valley
under the leadership of Robert Dale
. George Fletcher Moore
, who was a member of the expedition, recounted the discovery thus:
and the following day
The first classification of specimens was published by George Robert Waterhouse
, describing the species in 1836 and the family in 1841. Myrmecobius fasciatus was included in the first part of John Gould
's The Mammals of Australia
, issued in 1845, with a plate by H. C. Richter
illustrating the species.
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
found in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Its diet consists almost exclusively of termite
Termite
Termites are a group of eusocial insects that, until recently, were classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera , but are now accepted as the epifamily Termitoidae, of the cockroach order Blattodea...
s. Once widespread across southern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the range is now restricted to several small colonies and it is listed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
. The numbat is an emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
of Western Australia and protected by conservation
Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
programs.
Classification
The numbat genusGenus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Myrmecobius is the sole member of the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Myrmecobiidae; one of the three families that make up the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Dasyuromorphia
Dasyuromorphia
The order Dasyuromorphia comprises most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the recently extinct thylacine...
, the Australian marsupial carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s.
The species is not closely related to other extant marsupials; the current arrangement in the dasyuromorphia order places its monotypic family with the diverse and carnivorous species of Dasyuridae
Dasyuridae
Dasyuridae is a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 61 species divided into 15 genera. Many are small and mouse-like, giving them the misnomer marsupial mice, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian Devil...
. A closer affinity with the extinct thylacine
Thylacine
The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...
, contained in the same order, has been proposed. Genetic studies have shown that the ancestors of the numbat diverged from other marsupials between 32 and 42 million years ago, during the late Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
.
There are two recognised subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
. However, one of these, the rusty numbat (M. f. rufus), has been extinct since at least the 1960s, and only the nominate subspecies (M. f. fasciatus) remains alive today. As its name implies, the rusty numbat was said to have a more reddish coat than the surviving subspecies. Only a very small number of fossil specimens are known, the oldest dating back to the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, and no fossils belonging to other species from the same family have yet been discovered.
Description
The numbat is a small, colourful creature between 35 and 45 cm (13.8 and 17.7 ) long, including the tail, with a finely pointed muzzleMuzzle
A muzzle may be:* the snout of an animal* Muzzle , a device that covers an animal's snout* Muzzle , the mouth of a firearm* Muzzle , a song on The Smashing Pumpkins album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness...
and a prominent, bushy tail about the same length as its body. Colour varies considerably, from soft grey to reddish-brown, often with an area of brick red on the upper back, and always with a conspicuous black stripe running from the tip of the muzzle through the eyes to the bases of the small, round-tipped ears. There are between four and eleven white stripes across the animal's hindquarters, which gradually become fainter towards the mid-back. The underside is cream or light grey, while the tail is covered with long grey hair flecked with white. Weight varies between 280 and 700 g (9.9 and 24.7 ).
Unlike most other marsupials, the numbat is diurnal
Diurnal animal
Diurnality is a plant or animal behavior characterized by activity during the day and sleeping at night.-In animals:Animals that are not diurnal might be nocturnal or crepuscular . Many animal species are diurnal, including many mammals, insects, reptiles and birds...
, largely because of the constraints of having a specialised diet without having the usual physical equipment for it. Most ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s with a generous supply of termites have a fairly large creature with a very long, thin, sticky tongue for penetrating termite colonies, and powerful forelimbs with heavy claws. There are five toes on the forefeet, and four on the hindfeet. Like other mammals that eat termites or ants, the numbat has a degenerate jaw with up to 50 very small non-functional teeth, and although it able to chew, rarely does so, because of the soft nature of its diet. Uniquely among terrestrial mammals, there is an additional cheek tooth between the premolar
Premolar
The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant, making eight premolars total in the mouth. They have at least two cusps. Premolars can be considered as a 'transitional tooth' during chewing, or...
s and molar
Molar (tooth)
Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....
s; it is unclear whether this represents a supernumary molar tooth or a deciduous tooth
Deciduous teeth
Deciduous teeth, otherwise known as reborner teeth, baby teeth, temporary teeth and primary teeth, are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and many other mammals. In some Asian countries they are referred to as fall teeth as they will eventually fall out, while in almost all...
retained into adult life. As a result, although not individuals have the same dental formula, in general, it follows the unique pattern:
Like many ant-eating animals, the numbat has an unusually long, narrow, tongue, coated with sticky saliva
Saliva
Saliva , referred to in various contexts as spit, spittle, drivel, drool, or slobber, is the watery substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is a component of oral fluid. In mammals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the three pairs of major salivary glands,...
produced by large submandibular gland
Submandibular gland
The paired submandibular glands are salivary glands located beneath the floor of the mouth. In humans, they account for 70% of the salivary volume and weigh about 15 grams. Unstimulated in humans, the percentage contribution to whole saliva; ~25% Parotid, Submandibular and Sublingual ~ 67% and...
s. A further adaptation to the diet is the presence of numerous ridges along the soft palate
Soft palate
The soft palate is the soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is distinguished from the hard palate at the front of the mouth in that it does not contain bone....
, which apparently help to scrape termites off the tongue so that they can be swallowed. The digestive system is relatively simple, and lacks many of the adaptations found in other entomophagous
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
animals, presumably because termites are easier to digest than ants, having a softer exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
. Numbats are apparently able to gain a considerable amount of water from their diet, since their kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
s lack the usual specialisations for retaining water found in other animals living in their arid environment. Numbats also possess a sternal scent gland
Scent gland
Scent glands are found in the genital area of most mammals and in various other parts of the body, such as the underarms of humans and the preorbital glands of deer and muskox. They produce a semi-viscous fluid which contains pheromones. These odor-messengers indicate information such as status,...
, which may be used for marking its territory.
Although the numbat finds termite mounds primarily using scent, it has the highest visual acuity of any marsupial, and, unusually for marsupials, has a high proportion of cone cell
Cone cell
Cone cells, or cones, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that are responsible for color vision; they function best in relatively bright light, as opposed to rod cells that work better in dim light. If the retina is exposed to an intense visual stimulus, a negative afterimage will be...
s in the retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
. These are both likely adaptations for its diurnal habits, and vision does appear to be the primary sense used to detect potential predators. Numbats regularly enter a state of torpor
Torpor
Torpor, sometimes called temporary hibernation is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually characterized by a reduced body temperature and rate of metabolism. Animals that go through torpor include birds and some mammals such as mice and bats...
, which may last up to fifteen hours a day during the winter months.
Distribution and habitat
Numbats were formerly found across southern AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
from Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
across as far as northwestern New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. However, the range has declined significantly since the arrival of Europeans, and the species has survived only in two small patches of land in the Dryandra Woodland
Dryandra Woodland
The Dryandra Woodland is a nature conservation area in Western Australia within the Shires of Cuballing, Williams and Wandering, about 164 kilometres south-east of Perth and 22 kilometres north-west of the town of Narrogin...
and the Perup Nature Reserve, both in Western Australia. In recent years, it has, however, been successfully reintroduced into a few fenced reserves, including some in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and New South Wales.
Today, numbats are found only in areas of eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
forest, but they were once more widespread in other types of semi-arid woodland, Spinifex
Spinifex (genus)
Spinifex is a genus of perennial coastal grasses. They are one of the most common plants that grow in sand dunes along the coasts of Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.. As they help stabilise the sand, these grasses are an important part of the entire sand dune ecosystem. Of the four species...
grassland, and even in terrain dominated by sand dunes.
Ecology and behaviour
Numbats are insectivoreInsectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
s and eat an exclusive diet of termites. An adult numbat requires up to 20,000 termites each day. The only marsupial that is fully active by day, the numbat spends most of its time searching for termites. It digs up termites from loose earth with its front claws and captures them with its long sticky tongue. Despite its banded anteater name, although the remains of ants have occasionally been found in numbat dung, these belong to species that themselves prey on termites, and so were presumably eaten accidentally, along with the main food. Known predators on numbats include carpet python
Carpet python
Morelia spilota is a large snake of the Pythonidae family found in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. There are 6 subspecies listed by ITIS, commonly referred to as Carpet and Diamond pythons.-Description:...
s, introduced red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
es, and various falcons, hawks, and eagles.
Adult numbats are solitary
Solitary but social
"Solitary but social" is a type of social organization where individuals forage separately, yet some individuals sleep in the same location or share nests. Female home ranges usually overlap while those of males do not. Males usually do not associate with other males, and male offspring are usually...
and territorial; an individual male or female establishes a territory of up to 1.5 square kilometres (370 acres) early in life, and defends it from others of the same sex. The animal generally remains within that territory from that time on; male and female territories overlap, and in the breeding season males will venture outside their normal home range to find mates.
While the numbat has relatively powerful claw
Claw
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage, found at the end of a toe or finger in most mammals, birds, and some reptiles. However, the word "claw" is also often used in reference to an invertebrate. Somewhat similar fine hooked structures are found in arthropods such as beetles and spiders, at the end...
s for its size, it is not strong enough to get at termites inside their concrete-like mound, and so must wait until the termites are active. It uses a well-developed sense of smell to locate the shallow and unfortified underground galleries that termites construct between the nest and their feeding sites; these are usually only a short distance below the surface of the soil, and vulnerable to the numbat's digging claws.
The numbat synchronises its day with termite activity, which is temperature dependent: in winter, it feeds from mid-morning to mid-afternoon; in summer, it rises earlier, takes shelter during the heat of the day, and feeds again in the late afternoon.
At night, the numbat retreats to a nest, which can be in a hollow log or tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, or in a burrow
Burrow
A burrow is a hole or tunnel dug into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of shelter against predation and exposure to the elements, so the burrowing way of life is quite popular among the...
, typically a narrow shaft 1-2 metres long which terminates in a spherical chamber lined with soft plant material: grass, leaves, flowers and shredded bark. The numbat is able to block the opening of its nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
, with the thick hide of its rump, to prevent a predator being able to access the burrow. Numbats have relatively few vocalisations, but have been reported to hiss, growl, or make a repetitive 'tut' sound when disturbed.
Reproduction
Numbats breed in February and March, normally producing one litter a year, although they can produce a second if the first is lost. Gestation lasts 15 days, and results in the birth of four young. Unusually among marsupials, female numbats have no pouch, although the four teats are protected by a patch of crimped, golden hair and by the swelling of the surrounding abdomen and thighs during lactation.The young are 2 centimetre (0.78740157480315 in) long at birth, and crawl to the teats, and remain attached until late July or early August, by which time they have grown to 7.5 centimetres (3 in). They first develop fur at 3 centimetres (1.2 in), and the adult coat pattern begins to appear once they reach 5.5 centimetres (2.2 in). After weaning, the young are initially left in a nest, or carried about on the mother's back, and they are fully independent by November. Females are sexually mature by the following summer, but males do not reach maturity for another year.
Conservation status
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victorian
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
borders west to the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, and as far north as the southwest corner of the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
. It was at home in a wide range of woodland and semi-arid habitats. The deliberate release of the European red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
in the 19th century, however, wiped out the entire numbat population in Victoria, NSW, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and the Northern Territory, and almost all numbats in Western Australia as well. By the late 1970s, the population was well under 1,000 individuals, concentrated in two small areas not far from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Dryandra
Dryandra Woodland
The Dryandra Woodland is a nature conservation area in Western Australia within the Shires of Cuballing, Williams and Wandering, about 164 kilometres south-east of Perth and 22 kilometres north-west of the town of Narrogin...
and Perup.
The first record of the species described it as beautiful; its appeal saw it selected as the faunal emblem of the state of Western Australia and initiated efforts to conserve it from extinction.
It appears that the reason the two small Western Australia populations were able to survive is that both areas have many hollow logs that may serve as refuge from predators. Being diurnal, the numbat is much more vulnerable to predation than most other marsupials of a similar size: its natural predators include the Little Eagle
Little Eagle
The Little Eagle is a very small eagle native to Australasia, measuring 45–55 cm in length and weighing 815 g – roughly the size of a Peregrine Falcon. It tends to inhabit open woodland, grassland and arid regions, shunning dense forest...
, Brown Goshawk
Brown Goshawk
The Brown Goshawk is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands.- Description:...
, Collared Sparrowhawk
Collared Sparrowhawk
The Collared Sparrowhawk is a small, slim bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia, and New Guinea and nearby smaller islands.- Description :...
and Carpet Python
Carpet python
Morelia spilota is a large snake of the Pythonidae family found in Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea. There are 6 subspecies listed by ITIS, commonly referred to as Carpet and Diamond pythons.-Description:...
. When the Western Australia government instituted an experimental program of fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
baiting at Dryandra (one of the two remaining sites), numbat sightings increased by a factor of 40.
An intensive research and conservation program since 1980 has succeeded in increasing the numbat population substantially, and reintroductions to fox-free areas have begun. Perth Zoo
Perth Zoo
The Perth Zoo is a zoo that opened in 1898 in South Perth, Western Australia. As of January 2011, it is home to 1258 animals of 164 species and includes an extensive botanical collection....
is very closely involved in breeding this native species in captivity for release into the wild. Despite the encouraging degree of success so far, the Numbat remains at considerable risk of extinction and is classified as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.
Discovery
Avon Valley, Western Australia
Avon Valley may refer to:* the fertile land in the catchment of the Avon River * the Avon Valley National Park* the final Eastern Railway route through the valley* Avon Valley School...
under the leadership of Robert Dale
Robert Dale
Lieutenant Robert Dale was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia.Robert Dale was born in England in October 1812...
. George Fletcher Moore
George Fletcher Moore
George Fletcher Moore was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one [of] the key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite"...
, who was a member of the expedition, recounted the discovery thus:
and the following day
The first classification of specimens was published by George Robert Waterhouse
George Robert Waterhouse
George Robert Waterhouse was an English naturalist.In 1833, Waterhouse was elected as the Royal Entomological Society of London's librarian and curator of insects and records....
, describing the species in 1836 and the family in 1841. Myrmecobius fasciatus was included in the first part of John Gould
John Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
's The Mammals of Australia
The Mammals of Australia
The Mammals of Australia is a three volume work written and published by John Gould between 1845–63. It contains 182 illustrations by the author and its artist H. C. Richter...
, issued in 1845, with a plate by H. C. Richter
Henry Constantine Richter
Henry Constantine Richter was a zoological illustrator.Richter was employed by John Gould to assist with the illustrations of his zoological works after the death of Gould's wife Elizabeth...
illustrating the species.
External links
- ARKive - images and movies of the numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
- Numbat Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) WebPage.