Dunnart is a common name for species of the genus ''Sminthopsis'', narrow-footed

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

s the size of a European mouse. They have a largely

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

diet.

Taxonomy

Fat-tailed_Dunnart_(Sminthopsis_crassicaudata)_(14559441713)

The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas in 1887, the author noting that the name ''

Podabrus ''Podabrus'' is a genus of soldier beetles in the family Cantharidae. There are at least 110 described species in ''Podabrus'', recorded from Europe, North America and Asia. Many ''Podabrus'' appear to mimic fireflies, such as the winter fir ...

'' that had previously been used to describe the species was preoccupied as a genus of beetles. The type species is '' Phascogale crassicaudata'', published by

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

in 1844. There are 23 species, all of which occur in Australia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

: * Genus ''Sminthopsis'' ** ''S. crassicaudata'' species-group ***

Fat-tailed dunnart The fat-tailed dunnart (''Sminthopsis crassicaudata'') is a species of mouse-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae, the family that includes the little red kaluta, quolls, and the Tasmanian devil. It has an average body length of with a tail of . Ea ...

, ''Sminthopsis crassicaudata'' ** ''S. macroura'' species-group ***

Kakadu dunnart The Kakadu dunnart (''Sminthopsis bindi'') is a dunnart first described in 1994 and whose closest relative is the Carpentarian dunnart. It typically has a body length of 50-85mm with a tail 60-105mm long, for a total length between 110-190mm. It ...

, ''Sminthopsis bindi'' *** Carpentarian dunnart, ''Sminthopsis butleri'' *** Julia Creek dunnart, ''Sminthopsis douglasi'' *** Froggatt's dunnart, ''Sminthopsis froggatti'' ***

Stripe-faced dunnart The striped-faced dunnart (''Sminthopsis macroura'') is a small, Australian, nocturnal, "marsupial mouse," part of the family Dasyuridae. The species' distribution occurs throughout much of inland central and northern Australia, occupying a ra ...

, ''Sminthopsis macroura'' *** Stalker's dunnart, ''Sminthopsis stalkeri'' *** Red-cheeked dunnart, ''Sminthopsis virginiae'' ** ''S. granulipes'' species-group *** White-tailed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis granulipes'' ** ''S. griseoventer'' species-group *** Kangaroo Island dunnart, ''Sminthopsis aitkeni'' *** Boullanger Island dunnart, ''Sminthopsis boullangerensis'' *** Grey-bellied dunnart, ''Sminthopsis griseoventer'' ** ''S. longicaudata'' species-group *** Long-tailed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis longicaudata'' ** ''S. murina'' species-group ***

Chestnut dunnart The chestnut dunnart (''Sminthopsis archeri'') is a dunnart that was described by Van Dyck in 1986 and is named because of its chestnut colour in the upperparts of its body. The length from snout to tail is 167–210 mm, of which head to an ...

, ''Sminthopsis archeri'' *** Little long-tailed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis dolichura'' *** Sooty dunnart, ''Sminthopsis fuliginosus'' ***

Gilbert's dunnart Gilbert's dunnart (''Sminthopsis gilberti'') is a recently discovered dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being of which the head and body are and the tail . The hind foot size is , the ear length is and with the weight ...

, ''Sminthopsis gilberti'' *** White-footed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis leucopus'' *** Slender-tailed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis murina'' ** ''S. psammophila'' species-group *** Hairy-footed dunnart, ''Sminthopsis hirtipes'' ***

Ooldea dunnart The Ooldea dunnart (''Sminthopsis ooldea''), also called Troughton's dunnart after the person who found the species, is an Australian marsupial similar to the hairy-footed dunnart. It is greyish-yellow on its upper body and white on the underside ...

, ''Sminthopsis ooldea'' *** Sandhill dunnart, ''Sminthopsis psammophila'' ***

Lesser hairy-footed dunnart The lesser hairy-footed dunnart (''Sminthopsis youngsoni'') is a small carnivorous Australian marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is a widespread and fairly common species, being found in many desert areas of Western Australia, Northern Terri ...

, ''Sminthopsis youngsoni'' The genus is referred to by their common name of dunnarts.

Description

A male dunnart's

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes ( allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or a ...

is the smallest known mammalian Y chromosome.

References

External links

Marsupial Society's checklist
{{Taxonbar, from=Q653458 Dasyuromorphs Marsupials of Australia Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas