Bettongs, species of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''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 anim ...

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 colonisation 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 August 2021, 40 bettongs were released in different parts of South Australia after being 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 database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...

'' (2005): * ''Bettongia gaimardi'',

Eastern bettong The eastern bettong (''Bettongia gaimardi''), also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family ( Potoroidae) ...

, also known as the Tasmanian bettong * ''Bettongia lesueur'' Boodie * ''Bettongia penicillata'' Woylie * ''Bettongia tropica'' Wakefield, 1967. Northern bettong In addition, at least three extinct species are known: * '' Bettongia moyesi'', 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 Northe ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. 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 :* subfamily † Palaeopotoroinae :* subfamily

Potoroinae Potoroidae is a family of marsupials, small Australian animals known as Bettong, bettongs, Potoroo, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. All are rabbit-sized, brown, jumping marsupials and resemble a large rodent or a very small wallaby. Taxonomy The ...

::* genus '' Aepyprymnus'' ::* genus ''Bettongia'' :::* species †'' Bettongia anhydra'' :::* species '' Bettongia gaimardi'' :::* species '' Bettongia lesueur'' :::* species †'' Bettongia moyesi'' :::* 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