Biology:Northern pig-footed bandicoot

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Short description: Extinct species of marsupial

Northern pig-footed bandicoot
Mus Nat Hist Nat 25022013 Chaeropus ecaudatus.jpg
Extinct  (1950s)
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Peramelemorphia
Family: Chaeropodidae
Genus: Chaeropus
Species:
C. yirratji
Binomial name
Chaeropus yirratji
Travouillon et al. 2019

The northern pig-footed bandicoot (Chaeropus yirratji) was a small species of extinct herbivorous Australian marsupial in the genus Chaeropus, the pig-footed bandicoots. It has been believed to be extinct since the mid-20th century; the last confirmed observation was a specimen collected near Alice Springs in 1901, but reports from local Aborigines indicate that it may have survived in the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts as late as the 1950s.[1][2][3]

It very closely resembled and was formerly considered conspecific with the related southern pig-footed bandicoot, but unlike C. ecaudatus, C. yirratji was restricted to grassland habitats in the deserts of central and western Australia. It also had a longer tail and hind feet, a different dentition, fewer holes on its palate, and a distinct coat coloration. It had at least two different color morphs; a light morph and a dark morph. This species likely went extinct due to the introduction of invasive red foxes and feral cats, as well as habitat degradation for livestock.[1][3][4]

References

Wikidata ☰ Q62696781 entry