The Pilbara ningaui (''Ningaui timealeyi''), sometimes known as Ealey's ningaui, is a tiny species of

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 ...

carnivore found 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 ...

Taxonomy

The species was described by Mike Archer in 1975, distinguishing the new taxon from other dasyurids by nominating it as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of a new genus. Archer provided a description for a second species of ''

Ningaui ''Ningaui'' is a genus of small species of the marsupial dasyurid family. Along with the planigales, they are among the smallest marsupials. Taxonomy The genus was established in 1975 to accommodate two newly described species of dasyurids, th ...

'', the more widely distributed ''

Ningaui ridei 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 ...

''. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is a specimen obtained escaping a fire in spinifex country, a collection made by A. Snell in 1963 at Mount Robinson in the northwest of Australia. Other material examined included a specimen collected in 1957 by E. H. M. Ealey of

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, then working as a field officer for the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

, his informal name, 'Tim' Ealey. is the eponym of the specific epithet.

Description

The Pilbara ningaui is a very small species of marsupial, in length. The fur is spiky and dishevelled in appearance, the upper parts are a mix of ginger and brown hairs, or grey-brown, with a rufous colouration across the flanks, ears and face. The eyes are close-set and the muzzle is long and pointed. The tail is long and they weigh from . The females possess six teats, fewer than others of the genus. This makes the Pilbara ningaui among of the smallest of all marsupials, surpassed only by 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. It is partly arboreal, and differs from others of the genus in its smaller size and rufous-tinted face.

Distribution and habitat

The species is found in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

and Gascoyne regions of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, extending into the

Little Sandy Desert The Little Sandy Desert (LSD) is a desert region in the state of Western Australia, lying to the east of the Pilbara and north of the Gascoyne regions. It is part of the Western Desert cultural bloc, Western Desert cultural region, and was dec ...

. ''Ningaui timealeyi'' is recorded as locally common in some locations, such as the

Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his exploration expedition to the ...

, but is not frequently occur outside of these areas.

Behaviour

A partly arboreal species that forages in the dense undergrowth. Breeding is dependent on the extent of seasonal rain in the region, beginning in September and rearing of young continuing as late as March. The size of each litter may be four to six young.

References

External links