Chestnut Dunnart
Encyclopedia
The Chestnut Dunnart is a dunnart
Dunnart
Dunnarts are furry narrow-footed marsupials the size of a mouse, members of the genus Sminthopsis. They are mainly insectivorous. A male dunnart's Y chromosome has only 4 genes, making it the smallest known mammalian Y chromosome....

 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 being 167-210 mm of which head to anus is 85-105 mm and tail 82-105 mm long. Hind foot size is 17-20 mm, ear length of 17-21 mm and with a weight of 15-20 g.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 and in Australia from the Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula
Cape York Peninsula is a large remote peninsula located in Far North Queensland at the tip of the state of Queensland, Australia, the largest unspoilt wilderness in northern Australia and one of the last remaining wilderness areas on Earth...

, northern gulf and northeast coast around the Gulf of Carpentaria
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea...

 to the west coast of Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 and south to Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. Its habitats in Australia consist of tall stringybark woodlands and tall forests situated in red earth. In Papua New Guinea it is also found in savannah.

Social organisation and breeding

The species is little studied and not much information is knows on the behaviour, but it does breed during July-October when it is the dry season.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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