Macrotis is a genus of desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores known as bilbies or rabbit-bandicoots; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. The lesser bilby became extinct in the 1950s; the greater bilby survives but remains endangered. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species. The greater bilby is on average 55 cm (22 in) long, excluding the tail, which is usually around 29 cm (11 in) long. Its fur is usually grey or white; it has a long, pointy nose and very long ears, hence the reference of its nickname to rabbits.
The greater bilby, or simply bilby, is a long-eared, rabbit-like mammal native to Australia. It lives in burrows and is active at night, feeding on insects, fruit, or fungi. The bilby is a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. Threats include habitat loss, disease, and introduced predators such as foxes. Formerly widespread, bilbies are now restricted to arid parts of northwestern and central Australia.
The order Peramelemorphia includes the bandicoots and bilbies. All members of the order are endemic to Australia-New Guinea and most have the characteristic bandicoot shape: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, very large upright ears, relatively long, thin legs, and a thin tail. Their size varies from about 140 grams up to 4 kilograms, but most species are about one kilogram.
Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago to the east and Seram and Halmahera to the west.
The desert bandicoot is an extinct bandicoot of the arid country in the centre of Australia.
Threatened fauna of Australia are those species and subspecies of birds, fish, frogs, insects, mammals, molluscs, crustaceans, and reptiles to be found in Australia that are in danger of becoming extinct. This article lists species classified as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The eastern bettong, also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like most marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies have been reintroduced there.
The eastern quoll is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial (dasyurid), and one of six extant species of quolls. Endemic to Australia, they occur on the island state of Tasmania, but were considered extinct on the mainland after 1963. The species has been reintroduced to fox-proof fenced sanctuaries Victoria in 2003 and to the Australian Capital Territory in 2016.
Perameles is a genus of marsupials of the order Peramelemorphia. They are referred to as long-nosed bandicoots or barred bandicoots.
The marsupial family Peramelidae contains the extant bandicoots. They are found throughout Australia and New Guinea, with at least some species living in every available habitat, from rainforest to desert. Four fossil peramelids are described. One known extinct species of bandicoot, the pig-footed bandicoot, was so different from the other species, it was recently moved into its own family.
The southern brown bandicoot is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. A subspecies in Western Australia was also known as the quenda in South Western Australia. This subspecies was elevated to species in 2018.
The boodie, also known as the burrowing bettong or Lesueur's rat-kangaroo, is a small, furry, rat-like mammal native to Australia. Once common throughout the continent, it is now restricted to a few coastal islands. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives in burrows and is active at night when it forages for fungi, roots, and other plant matter. It is about the size of a rabbit and, like most marsupials, carries its young in a pouch.
The Western barred bandicoot, also known as the Shark Bay bandicoot or the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuaries on the mainland.
The long-nosed bandicoot, a marsupial, is a species of bandicoot found in eastern Australia, from north Queensland along the east coast to Victoria. Around 40 centimetres (16 in) long, it is sandy- or grey-brown with a long snouty nose. Omnivorous, it forages for invertebrates, fungi and plants at night.
Serendip Sanctuary is a 250 ha protected area in Victoria, Australia, near the You Yangs and the town of Lara, some 22 km (14 mi) north of Geelong and 60 km (37 mi) south-west of Melbourne. Originally used for farming and other purposes, it was purchased in 1959 by the State Government of Victoria for wildlife research and the captive management and breeding of species threatened in Victoria, such as the brolga, magpie goose, Australian bustard, and bush stone-curlew. The sanctuary contains many different types of wetland and is home to many plant species as well, such as river red gums, tall spikerush, and tussock grass. Serendip now focuses more on environmental education about the flora and fauna of the wetlands and open grassy woodlands of the Volcanic Western Plains of Victoria. It was opened to the public in 1991 and is now managed by Parks Victoria.
The Peter Murrell Conservation Area is located in Huntingfield, Tasmania, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the state's capital city, Hobart. The conservation area has an area of 135 ha and is one of three reserves within the Peter Murrell Reserves. Also within these reserves are the Peter Murrell State Reserve and a Public Reserve. These reserves and the Conservation Area lie at the base of the Tinderbox Peninsula, between the suburbs of Kingston, Howden and Blackman's Bay. The Peter Murrell Conservation Area surrounds the northern, western and southern sides of the Peter Murrell State Reserve.
Heirisson Prong is a community managed reserve established for the conservation of threatened mammals at Shark Bay in Western Australia. The reserve is at the point of a long narrow peninsula of the same name that juts into Shark Bay from the south.
The Tasmanian temperate forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion in Australia. The ecoregion occupies the eastern portion of the island of Tasmania, which lies south of the Australian mainland.
