A dunnart (from

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

''donat'') is a narrow-footed

marsupial Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...

the size of a European mouse, of the genus ''Sminthopsis''. Dunnarts have a largely

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

diet.

Taxonomy

The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by

Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for ...

in 1887, the author noting that the name '' Podabrus'' that had previously been used to describe the species was preoccupied as a genus of beetles. The type species is '' Phascogale crassicaudata'', published by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

in 1844. There are 19 species, all of them in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

: * Genus ''Sminthopsis'' ** ''S. crassicaudata'' species-group ***

Fat-tailed dunnart The fat-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis crassicaudata'') is a species of mouse-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae, the family that includes the little red kaluta, quolls, and the Tasmanian devil. Description It has an average body length of ...

, '' Sminthopsis crassicaudata'' ** ''S. macroura'' species-group ***

Kakadu dunnart The Kakadu dunnart (''Sminthopsis bindi'') is a dunnart first described in 1994 and whose closest relative is the Carpentarian dunnart. It typically has a body length of 50-85mm with a tail 60-105mm long, for a total length between 110-190mm. It ...

, '' Sminthopsis bindi'' *** Carpentarian dunnart, ''

Sminthopsis butleri The Carpentarian dunnart (''Sminthopsis butleri'') also known as Butler's dunnart is a marsupial 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 ...

'' ***

Julia Creek dunnart The Julia Creek dunnart (''Sminthopsis douglasi'') is a marsupial with a buffy brown upperside and white underside. This dunnart has a body length of 100–135 mm with a tail of 60–105 mm to make a total length of 160–240 mm ...

, ''

Sminthopsis douglasi The Julia Creek dunnart (''Sminthopsis douglasi'') is a marsupial with a buffy brown upperside and white underside. This dunnart has a body length of 100–135 mm with a tail of 60–105 mm to make a total length of 160–240 mm. ...

'' ***

Stripe-faced dunnart The striped-faced dunnart (''Sminthopsis macroura'') is a small, Australian, nocturnal, "marsupial mouse," part of the family Dasyuridae. The species' distribution occurs throughout much of inland central and northern Australia, occupying a ran ...

, ''

Sminthopsis macroura A dunnart (from Noongar ''donat'') is a narrow-footed marsupial the size of a European mouse, of the genus ''Sminthopsis''. Dunnarts have a largely insectivorous diet. Taxonomy The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas ...

'' ***

Red-cheeked dunnart The red-cheeked dunnart (''Sminthopsis virginiae'') is an Australasian marsupial so called because of the distinctive red hair on its cheek. Its total length is ; its average body length is with a tail of . Ear length is . Its weight varies betw ...

, ''

Sminthopsis virginiae A dunnart (from Noongar ''donat'') is a narrow-footed marsupial the size of a European mouse, of the genus ''Sminthopsis''. Dunnarts have a largely insectivorous diet. Taxonomy The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas ...

'' ** ''S. granulipes'' species-group ***

White-tailed dunnart The white-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis granulipes''), also known as the ash-grey dunnart, is a dunnart native to Australia. Taxonomy A species first named by Gerard Krefft in 1872, using a specimen obtained at Albany by the local collector G ...

, ''

Sminthopsis granulipes The white-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis granulipes''), also known as the ash-grey dunnart, is a dunnart native to Australia. Taxonomy A species first named by Gerard Krefft in 1872, using a specimen obtained at Albany by the local collector G ...

'' ** ''S. griseoventer'' species-group ***

Grey-bellied dunnart The grey-bellied dunnart (''Sminthopsis griseoventer''), alternately spelled gray-bellied dunnart, was described by Kitchener, Stoddart and Henry along with the Kangaroo Island dunnart, Gilbert's dunnart and little long-tailed dunnart in 1984. T ...

, ''

Sminthopsis griseoventer The grey-bellied dunnart (''Sminthopsis griseoventer''), alternately spelled gray-bellied dunnart, was described by Kitchener, Stoddart and Henry along with the Kangaroo Island dunnart, Gilbert's dunnart and little long-tailed dunnart in 1984. ...

'' ** ''S. murina'' species-group ***

Kangaroo Island dunnart The Kangaroo Island dunnart (''Sminthopsis aitkeni'') is a dark sooty-grey coloured dunnart species first described in 1969, with paler underparts of its body. It has an average body length of 170–198 mm, a snout to anus length of 80– ...

, '' Sminthopsis aitkeni'' *** Chestnut dunnart, '' Sminthopsis archeri'' ***

Little long-tailed dunnart The Little long-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis dolichura'') is a dunnart that was, along with Gilbert's dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail is of which head and body are and tail long. Hind foot size is , the ear length i ...

, '' Sminthopsis dolichura'' *** Sooty dunnart, '' Sminthopsis fuliginosus'' ***

Gilbert's dunnart Gilbert's dunnart (''Sminthopsis gilberti'') is a recently discovered dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being of which the head and body are and the tail . The hind foot size is , the ear length is and with the weight ...

, ''

Sminthopsis gilberti Gilbert's dunnart (''Sminthopsis gilberti'') is a recently discovered dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being of which the head and body are and the tail . The hind foot size is , the ear length is and with the weight ...

'' *** White-footed dunnart, ''

Sminthopsis leucopus The white-footed dunnart (''Sminthopsis leucopus'') is a marsupial that occurs on Tasmania and mainland Australia. It occurs along the coast and in inner Gippsland and Alpine areas up to 400 metres near Narbethong. In southern New South Wa ...

'' ***

Slender-tailed dunnart The slender-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis murina''), also known as the common dunnart in Australia, is a dasyurid marsupial. It has an average body length of 7 to 12 centimeters (2.8–4.7 in) with a tail length of 5.5 to 13 centim ...

, '' Sminthopsis murina'' ** ''S. psammophila'' species-group *** Hairy-footed dunnart, '' Sminthopsis hirtipes'' *** Ooldea dunnart, '' Sminthopsis ooldea'' *** Sandhill dunnart, '' Sminthopsis psammophila'' *** Lesser hairy-footed dunnart, '' Sminthopsis youngsoni'' Additionally, two species are recognized by the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

: * Froggatt's dunnart, ''

Sminthopsis froggatti A dunnart (from Noongar ''donat'') is a narrow-footed marsupial the size of a European mouse, of the genus ''Sminthopsis''. Dunnarts have a largely insectivorous diet. Taxonomy The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas ...

'' * Stalker's dunnart, ''

Sminthopsis stalkeri A dunnart (from Noongar ''donat'') is a narrow-footed marsupial the size of a European mouse, of the genus ''Sminthopsis''. Dunnarts have a largely insectivorous diet. Taxonomy The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas ...

'' The American Society of Mammalogists also lists ''S. griseoventer'' as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

of ''S. fuliginosa'', and moved ''S. longicaudata'' to the genus '' Antechinomys''.

Description

A male dunnart's

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes in therian mammals and other organisms. Along with the X chromosome, it is part of the XY sex-determination system, in which the Y is the sex-determining chromosome because the presence of the ...

is the smallest known mammalian Y chromosome.

Notes

References

External links

Marsupial Society's checklist
{{Taxonbar, from=Q653458 Dasyuromorphs Marsupials of Australia Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas