Northern Bettong

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iEastern Bettong^[1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Potoroidae
Genus:	Bettongia
Species:	B. tropica

Binomial name

Bettongia tropica
Wakefield, 1967

The Northern Bettong (Bettongia tropica) is a small potoroid marsupial which is restricted to some areas of mixed open Eucalyptus woodlands and Allocasuarina forests bordering rainforests in far northeastern Queensland, Australia.

This bettong is a solitary animal and is nocturnal. It spends the day in a well concealed nest constructed beneath either a grass tree within a clump of grass or from other litter collected at ground level. Nesting material is carried using their prehensile tail. Ectomycorrhizal fungal sporocarps are the staple diet of the Northern Bettong. These are dug from beneath the soil at the bases of trees, and work to date suggests that substantial nightly movements are often required to detect this patchily distributed food source. Other foods in the diet include grass roots and tubers, lilies, herbs and sedges. The Northern Bettong appears to breed all year round, and like, other relatives of the kangaroos, the joey is carried in a pouch until it is old enough to follow the mother as a 'young-at-foot'.

The Northern Bettong is an endangered animal, and only populates three regions of Queensland, Australia, all within 80 miles of each other.

[edit] References

^ Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 57-58. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
^ Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group (1996). Bettongia tropica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2c v2.3)