Bettongs, species of the genus ''Bettongia'', are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecosystem engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing,

pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as " livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands ( pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The ani ...

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

Four extant species are recognised in the work ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

'' (2005): * ''Bettongia gaimardi'', Eastern bettong, also known as the Tasmanian bettong * ''Bettongia lesueur''

Boodie The boodie (''Bettongia lesueur''), 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 memb ...

* ''Bettongia penicillata''

Woylie The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (''Bettongia penicillata'') is a small, critically endangered, gerbil-like mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family ( Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is ac ...

* ''Bettongia tropica'' Wakefield, 1967. Northern bettong In addition, at least three extinct species are known: * ''

Bettongia moyesi ''Bettongia moyesi'' is a fossil species of potoroid marsupial. Taxonomy The description of fossil specimens obtained at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area was published by Tim Flannery and Mike Archer in 1987. The specific epithet was propo ...

'', Middle Miocene bettong from RiversleighFlannery, T.F. and Archer, M, 1987. Bettongia moyesi, a new and plesiomorphic kangaroo (Marsupialia: Potoridae) from Miocene sediments of northwestern Queensland. ‘Possums and Opossums: Studies in Evolution’, Pp.759–67. ed. M. Archer. Surrey Beatty & Sons and the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Sydne
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/ref> * ''Bettongia pusilla'', Nullarbor dwarf bettong, known only from subfossil remains, probably became extinct after colonisation *'' Bettongia anhydra'', described in 2015 from a specimen collected in 1933 near

Lake Mackay Lake Mackay, known as Wilkinkarra to the Indigenous Pintupi people, is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout the Pilbara and northern parts of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia and the Norther ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

. The phylogeny of the genus has seen a grouping of 'brush-tailed' taxa allied within the genus ''Bettongia'', and this includes the extant species '' Bettongia gaimardi'', '' B. tropica'' and '' B. penicillata''. A conservative arrangement of modern and fossil taxa of ''Bettongia'' may be summarised as * family Potoroidae: :* subfamily †

Bulungamayinae Bulungamayinae is a subfamily that allies fossil species of marsupials, showing close morphological features found in the modern potoroines, the bettongs and potoroos of Australia. The group possess characteristics of their dentition that plac ...

:* subfamily †

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 onl ...

:* subfamily Potoroinae ::* genus '' Aepyprymnus'' ::* genus ''Bettongia'' :::* species †'' Bettongia anhydra'' :::* species '' Bettongia gaimardi'' :::* species '' Bettongia lesueur'' :::* species †''

'' :::* species '' Bettongia penicillata'' :::* species †'' Bettongia pusilla'' :::* species '' Bettongia tropica'' ::* genus †'' Milliyowi'' ::* genus †'' Caloprymnus'' ::* genus '' Potorous'' ::* genus †'' Purtia'' ::* genus †'' Wakiewakie'' ::* genus †'' Gumardee'' The species '' Aepyprymnus rufescens'' is referred to as the rufous bettong, despite not being a member of the genus ''Bettongia''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q945387 Marsupial genera Marsupials of Australia Bettongia Taxa named by John Edward Gray

Conservation status

Taxonomy

See also

References