Potoroos
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Potoroos
Potoroo is a common name for species of ''Potorous'', a genus of smaller marsupials. They are allied to the Macropodiformes, the suborder of kangaroo, wallaby, and other rat-kangaroo genera. All three extant species are threatened by ecological changes since the colonisation of Australia, especially the long-footed potoroo ''Potorous longipes'' (endangered) and '' P. gilbertii'' ( critically endangered). The broad-faced potoroo '' P. platyops'' disappeared after its first description in the 19th century. The main threats are predation by introduced species (especially foxes) and habitat loss. Potoroos were formerly very common in Australia, and early settlers reported them as being significant pests to their crops. Status Gilbert's potoroo was first described in the West in 1840 by naturalist John Gilbert. It was then thought to have become extinct until being rediscovered in 1994 at the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve (near Albany) in Western Australia. Conservation efforts ...
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Potorous Gilbertii
Gilbert's potoroo or ngilkat (''Potorous gilbertii'') is Australia's most endangered marsupial, the rarest marsupial in the world, and one of the world's rarest critically endangered mammals, found in south-western Western Australia. It is a small nocturnal macropod that lives in small groups. It was thought to be extinct for much of the 20th century, having not been spotted for around a century, until its rediscovery in 1994. The only naturally located population is found in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve in Western Australia, where they co-exist with quokkas (''Setonix brachyurus''), but in 2015 a huge fire destroyed 90% of their habitat. Small populations are being established at Bald Island, off Albany, and more recently on Middle Island, off Esperance, all on the southern coast of WA. Numbers have increased in recent years, and as of December 2018 the entire population was estimated to comprise at least 100 individuals, with 10 on Middle Island, 70 on Bald Island, 2 ...
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Potorous Tridactylus
The long-nosed potoroo (''Potorous tridactylus'') is a small, hopping, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night for fungi, roots, or small insects. It is also a marsupial (like kangaroos) and carries its young in a pouch. The long-nosed potoroo is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species such as cats or foxes. There are two subspecies: ''P. t. tridactylus'' on mainland Australia, and ''P. t. apicalis'' on Tasmania, with lighter fur. At first glance, the long-nosed potoroo with its pointed nose and grey-brown fur looks very much like a bandicoot — that is, until it hops away with its front feet tucked into its chest, revealing its close relationship with the kangaroo family. The long-nosed potoroo exhibits many morphological specializations such as an elongated pointed rostral region (nose), erect ears, large eyes, claws for digging, and l ...
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Potorous Platyops
The broad-faced potoroo (''Potorous platyops'') is an extinct potoroid marsupial that was found in southwestern Australia. The first specimen was collected in 1839, and described by John Gould in 1844. Only a small number of specimens have been collected since. The last live capture was in 1875. Subfossil remains indicate that it had an extensive distribution around the semiarid coastal districts of Southwest Australia. The habitat of the broad-faced potoroo is almost entirely unknown, but unlike its relatives, such as the long-nosed potoroo ''Potorous tridactylus'' and long-footed ''Potorous longipes'', they do not seem to have lived in dense understories in forests. Preserved specimens indicate that it was smaller than other potoroos at around 300 mm (1 ft) long with a 180-mm tail. Their weight is estimated at 800 g. Their coat was grizzled with yellowish hairs above and greyish white below. Their body was similar in shape to that of other potoroids. Their ears were small and ...
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Albany, Western Australia
Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of King George Sound. The central business district is bounded by Mount Clarence to the east and Mount Melville to the west. The city is in the local government area of the City of Albany. While it is the oldest colonial, although not European, settlement in Western Australia - predating Perth and Fremantle by over two years - it was a semi-exclave of New South Wales for over four years until it was made part of the Swan River Colony. The settlement was founded on 26 December 1826 as a military outpost of New South Wales for the purpose of forestalling French ambitions in the region. To that end, on 21 January 1827, the commander of the outpost, Major Edmund Lockyer, formally took possession for the British Crown of the portion o ...
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Borungaboodie
''Borungaboodie'' is an extinct genus of potoroo that lived in Southwest Australia during the Pleistocene. The genus is represented by a single species known as ''Borungaboodie hatcheri'', or more informally, the giant potoroo. Discovery and naming Remains of ''Borungaboodie'' were found in Tight Entrance Cave in southwestern Australia. While the cave was explored since the 1970s, it wasn't until 1991 that Lindsay Hatcher and his team at the Western Australian Speleological Group (WASG) discovered that the cave contains fossils of extinct species. The first fossils of ''Borungaboodie'' were subsequently discovered in 1996. The name ''Borungaboodie'' is derived from the Nyoongar ''borunga'', meaning "very big", and ''boodie'' the word for the living bettong. The specific name honors Hatcher. Description ''Borungaboodie'' was significantly larger than any living potoroo, reaching a size comparable to that of a koala. Its lower jaw measured 30 percent greater than the living rofous ...
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Potoroinae
Potoroidae is a family of marsupials, small Australian animals known as bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. All are rabbit-sized, brown, jumping marsupials and resemble a large rodent or a very small wallaby. Taxonomy The potoroids are smaller relatives of the kangaroos and wallabies, and may be ancestral to that group. In particular, the teeth show a simpler pattern than in the kangaroo family, with longer upper incisors, larger canines, and four cusps on the molars. However, both groups possess a wide diastema between the incisors and the cheek teeth, and the potoroids have a similar dental formula to their larger relatives: In most respects, however, the potoroids are similar to small wallabies. Their hind feet are elongated, and they move by hopping, although the adaptations are not as extreme as they are in true wallabies, and, like rabbits, they often use their fore limbs to move about at slower speeds. The potoroids are, like nearly all diprotodonts, herbivorou ...
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Palaeopotoroinae
''Palaeopotorous priscus'' is a fossil species of a diprotodont marsupial, known from specimens obtained in central Australia. The animal was similar to the modern species of the family Potoroidae, the potoroos and bettongs. Taxonomy The only known species of its genus, ''Palaeopotorous'', which has been allied to the subfamily Potoroinae or as the type of a subfamily, Palaeopotoroinae, in the potoroid family. Description The dental evidence of the species indicates it was a similar size to a small to medium 'rat-kangaroos' that were common into the twentieth century. Since its first discovery, the species has been suspected of representing an early lineage of the macropods. The finds have been placed to the late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/ Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ... pe ...
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Hypsiprymnodontidae
The Hypsiprymnodontidae are a family of macropods, one of two families containing animals commonly referred to as rat-kangaroos. The single known extant genus and species in this family, the musky rat-kangaroo, ''Hypsiprymnodon moschatus'', occurs in northern Australia. During the Pleistocene, this family included the megafauna genus ''Propleopus''. Classification * Family Hypsiprymnodontidae ** Subfamily Hypsiprymnodontinae *** Genus ''Hypsiprymnodon'' ****''Hypsiprymnodon moschatus'', musky rat-kangaroo ****†''Hypsiprymnodon bartholomaii'' ****†''Hypsiprymnodon philcreaseri'' ****†''Hypsiprymnodon dennisi'' ****†''Hypsiprymnodon karenblackae'' ** Subfamily † Propleopinae Archer and Flannery, 1985 *** Genus †''Ekaltadeta'' ****†''Ekaltadeta ima'' ****†'' Ekaltadeta jamiemulveneyi'' *** Genus †''Propleopus'' ****†''Propleopus oscillans'' ****†''Propleopus chillagoensis'' ****†''Propleopus wellingtonensis ''Propleopus'' is an extinct genus of mar ...
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Aepyprymnus
The rufous rat-kangaroo or rufous bettong (''Aepyprymnus rufescens'') is a small, jumping, rat-like mammal native to eastern Australia. It is the only species in the genus ''Aepyprymnus''. The largest member of the rat-kangaroo family ( Potoroidae), it is about the size of a rabbit. The rufous rat-kangaroo is active at night when it digs for plant roots and fungi, and like other marsupials it carries its young in a pouch. Though its range is reduced, the population is healthy and stable. Taxonomy The rufous rat-kangaroo is the only member of its genus, and is the largest of all the potoroids. It is generally grey with a hint of reddish brown and its scientific name means "reddish high-rump". It was once thought of as a solitary, nocturnal animal, but recent observation indicates that the rufous rat-kangaroo may form loose, polygynous associations. It feeds mostly on tubers and fungi, but also on leaves and other vegetation. Description A species of the family Potoroidae ...
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Bettongia
Bettongs, species of the genus ''Bettongia'', are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecosystem engineer, ecosystem engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat. Conservation status All species of the genus have been severely affected by ecological changes since the European settlement of Australia. Those that have not become extinct became largely confined to islands and protected reserves and are dependent on re-population programs. The diversity of the genus was poorly understood before their extirpation from the mainland, and new taxa have been identified in specimens newly discovered and already held in museum collections. In 2021 August, 40 Bettongs were released in different parts of South Australia; they were raised in captivity to increase their numbers. Taxonomy Fou ...
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Illiger
Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (19 November 1775 – 10 May 1813) was a German entomologist and zoologist. Illiger was the son of a merchant in Braunschweig. He studied under the entomologist Johann Hellwig, and later worked on the zoological collections of Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg. Illiger was professor and director of the "zoological museum" (which is the Natural History Museum of Berlin in the present day) from its formation in 1810 until his death. He was the author of ''Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium'' (1811), which was an overhaul of the Linnaean system. It was a major influence on the adoption of the concept of the family. He also edited the ''Magazin für Insektenkunde'', widely known as "Illiger's Magazine". In 1811 he introduced the taxonomic order Proboscidea for elephants, the American mastodon and the woolly mammoth. He also described the subspecies ''Odobenus rosmarus divergens'', commonly known as the Pacific walrus. Illiger's macaw (''Promoliu ...
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