''Ningaui'' is a genus of small species of the marsupial

dasyurid The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

family. Along with the

planigale The genus ''Planigale'' are small carnivorous marsupials found in Australia and New Guinea. It is the only genus in the tribe Planigalini of the subfamily Sminthopsinae. The genus has long been known to contain several cryptic species. Of the fiv ...

s, they are among the smallest

marsupials 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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus was established in 1975 to accommodate two newly described species of

s, the type species '' Ningaui timealeyi'' and '' Ningaui ridei''. The author, Mike Archer, compared his specimens to those of ''

Sminthopsis 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 dunnarts), distinguishing the new taxon by the structure of the skull, the hindfoot, features of dentition and their smaller size, morphology that was presumed to be specialisations to a more arid environment. The author provided a diagnosis of two species that distinguished the populations by further details of cranial and dental characters. Archer notes the tentative alliance of the species to the genus ''

Planigale The genus ''Planigale'' are small carnivorous marsupials found in Australia and New Guinea. It is the only genus in the tribe Planigalini of the subfamily Sminthopsinae. The genus has long been known to contain several cryptic species. Of the fiv ...

'' by W. D. L. Ride in 1970, and provided a new definition of that genus to separate the new taxa. The three species of the genus are: *

Wongai ningaui The Wongai ningaui (''Ningaui ridei'') is a tiny carnivorous marsupial native to the arid open grasslands of inland Australia. Their diet is mainly small insects, and occasionally larger prey such as spiders, grasshoppers and cockroaches, which ...

, ''Ningaui ridei'' * Pilbara ningaui, ''Ningaui timealeyi'' * Southern ningaui, ''Ningaui yvonneae'' The name "ningaui" refers to a creature from Aboriginal myth. Archer refers to a published story of minute hairy creatures that emerged at night and ate their food uncooked, as an apt description the new genus.

Description

A genus of

Dasyuridae The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

. The tails of the species are all thin and lack any crest of brush-like fur, and equal to or greater in length than the head-body measurement. All ningaui are

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

hunters of

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

. In appearance they resemble

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

or similar small

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s, but can be distinguished by their pointed snouts. The genus ''Ningaui'' was one of the last of the Australian

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 ...

genera to be erected; this occurred with the surprise discovery of the

(''N. ridei'') and the Pilbara ningaui (''N. timealeyi'') in 1975. All species are found in Australia and restricted to arid regions of the south coast, central deserts and northwest of the continent.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1754405 Dasyuromorphs Marsupials of Australia Marsupial genera Taxa named by Mike Archer (paleontologist)