Carpentarian dunnart

Carpentarian dunnart
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Sminthopsis
Species: S. butleri
Binomial name
Sminthopsis butleri
(Archer, 1979)
Carpentarian dunnart range

The Carpentarian dunnart (Sminthopsis butleri) also known as the Butler's dunnart with a puffy brown or mouse grey colour above and the underside of white, similar to its close relative the Kakadu dunnart. Head to anus length is 75-88m with a tail of 72-90mm long for a total length of 147-178mm. Weight varies from 10-20gr depending on a variety of factors including sex, food abundance, habitat etc.

Distribution and habitat

Found in the Northern Kimberley's near Kalumburu in Western Australia and Bathurst and Melville Island in the Northern Territory. Habitat consists of eucalyptus and melaleuca forest with sandy soils up to and including 20 km from the coast. Also present on the island of New Guinea. In New Guinea found in grasslands and savannah in west of the island.

Social organisation and breeding

May breed in the dry season but needs more study.

Diet

No information, but most likely insects and small vertebrates.

References

  1. McKnight, M. (2008). Sminthopsis butleri. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 28 December 2008.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 05, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.