Dunnart
Encyclopedia
Dunnarts are furry narrow-footed marsupial
s 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
.
There are 21 species, all in Australia
and some in New Guinea
:
Marsupial
Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...
s the size of a mouse, members of the genus Sminthopsis. They are mainly insectivorous
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
. A male dunnart's Y chromosome
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
has only 4 genes
Gênes
Gênes is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Italy, named after the city of Genoa. It was formed in 1805, when Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the Republic of Genoa. Its capital was Genoa, and it was divided in the arrondissements of Genoa, Bobbio, Novi Ligure, Tortona and...
, making it the smallest known mammalian Y chromosome
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in most mammals, including humans. In mammals, it contains the gene SRY, which triggers testis development if present. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs...
.
There are 21 species, all in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and some in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
:
- Genus Sminthopsis
- S. crassicaudata species-group
- Fat-tailed DunnartFat-tailed DunnartThe Fat Tailed Dunnart is a species of mouse-like marsupial of the Dasyuridae family, the family includes the Little Red Kaluta, quolls, and the Tasmanian Devil. It has an average body length of 60–90 mm with a tail of 45–70 mm. Ear length is 14–16 mm...
, Sminthopsis crassicaudata
- Fat-tailed Dunnart
- S. macroura species-group
- Kakadu DunnartKakadu DunnartThe Kakadu Dunnart is a dunnart that was described in 1994 and the closest relative is the Carpentarian Dunnart. Its typical body length is 50-85mm long with a tail of 60-105mm for a total length of between 110-190mm, and a weight of between 10-25g, placing this species in the mid-range of the...
, Sminthopsis bindi - Carpentarian DunnartCarpentarian DunnartThe Carpentarian Dunnart also known as the Butler's Dunnart with a puffy brown or mouse grey colour above and the underside of white, similar to its close relative the Kakadu Dunnart. Head to anus length is 75-88m awith a tail of 72-90mm long for a total length of 147-178mm...
, Sminthopsis butleri - Julia Creek DunnartJulia Creek DunnartThe Julia Creek Dunnart is a marsupial with a large buffy brown upperside and white underside. This dunnart has a body length of 100-135 mm with a tail of 60-105 mm to make a total length of between 160-240 mm. Its weight is between 40-70g. The length of the hind foot is between...
, Sminthopsis douglasi - Stripe-faced DunnartStripe-faced DunnartThe Striped-faced Dunnart is an Australian marsupial. This dunnart has an average length of 155-198 mm from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, snout to anus distance of 75-98 mm, a tail measuring 80-100 mm and an ear length of 17-18 mm. Its weight varies between 15-25 grams. It has a...
, Sminthopsis macroura - Red-cheeked DunnartRed-cheeked DunnartThe Red-cheeked Dunnart is so called because of the distinctive red hair on its cheek. It is an Australasian marsupial. Its total length is 167–270 mm; its average body length is 80–135 mm with a tail of 87–135 mm. Ear length is 12–13 mm. Its weight varies between 18 and...
, Sminthopsis virginiae
- Kakadu Dunnart
- S. granulipes species-group
- White-tailed DunnartWhite-tailed DunnartThe White-tailed Dunnart , also known as the Ash-grey Dunnart, is a dunnart native to Australia. It has an average body length of 126-168 mm, a snout to anus length of 70-100 mm, a tail measurement of 56-68 mm and a weight which varies between 18-35 grams...
, Sminthopsis granulipes
- White-tailed Dunnart
- S. griseoventer species-group
- Kangaroo Island DunnartKangaroo Island DunnartThe Kangaroo Island Dunnart is a dark sooty-grey coloured dunnart species first discovered in 1969, with paler underparts of its body. It has an average body length of 170mm-198mm, a snout to anus length of 80-93 mm, a tail measurement of 90-105 mm, a hind foot of 17.5mm, ear length of 18mm and a...
, Sminthopsis aitkeni - Boullanger Island DunnartBoullanger Island DunnartThe Boullanger Island Dunnart is a species of dunnart found only on Boullanger Island, Western Australia. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Grey-bellied Dunnart , for which reason it was not assessed by the IUCN in 2008...
, Sminthopsis boullangerensis - Grey-bellied Dunnart, Sminthopsis griseoventer
- Kangaroo Island Dunnart
- S. longicaudata species-group
- Long-tailed DunnartLong-tailed DunnartLong-tailed Dunnart is an Australian dunnart that, like the Little Long-tailed Dunnart, has a tail longer than its body. It is also one of the larger dunnarts at a length from snout to tail of 260-306 mm of which head to anus is 80-96 mm and tail 180-210 mm long...
, Sminthopsis longicaudata
- Long-tailed Dunnart
- S. murina species-group
- Chestnut DunnartChestnut DunnartThe Chestnut Dunnart 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 being 167-210 mm of which head to anus is 85-105 mm and tail 82-105 mm long...
, Sminthopsis archeri - Little Long-tailed DunnartLittle Long-tailed DunnartThe Little Long-tailed Dunnart is a dunnart that was, along with Gilbert's Dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail is 150-200 mm of which head to anus is 65-50 mm and tail 85-105 mm long...
, Sminthopsis dolichura - Sooty DunnartSooty DunnartThe Sooty Dunnart is a species of dunnart found in Western Australia. It is one of the least-known of the dunnarts, with the IUCN classifying it as data deficient. It was formerly believed to be a subspecies of the Common Dunnart ....
, Sminthopsis fulginosus - Gilbert's DunnartGilbert's DunnartGilbert's Dunnart is a recently discovered dunnart, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being 155-180 mm of which head to anus is 80-90 mm and tail 75-90 mm long...
, Sminthopsis gilberti - White-footed DunnartWhite-footed DunnartThe White Footed Dunnart is a marsupial that occurs of Tasmania and Australia. It occurs along the coast and in inner Gippsland and Alpine areas up to 400 metres near Narbethong...
, Sminthopsis leucopus - Slender-tailed DunnartSlender-tailed DunnartThe Slender-tailed Dunnart , also known as the Common Dunnart in Australia, is a dasyurid marsupial . It has an average body length of 7 to 12 centimeters with a tail length of 5.5 to 13 centimetres...
, Sminthopsis murina
- Chestnut Dunnart
- S. psammophila species-group
- Hairy-footed DunnartHairy-footed DunnartThe Hairy-footed Dunnart is a dunnart that has silver hairs on the soles of it hind feet accompanied by long hair on the side of its sole. It is an Australian marsupial similar to the Ooldea Dunnart, with its upper body yellow-brown and lower body white in colour...
, Sminthopsis hirtipes - Ooldea DunnartOoldea DunnartThe Ooldea Dunnart , 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 with dark patches on its crown, forehead and in front of the eyes, and a...
, Sminthopsis ooldea - Sandhill DunnartSandhill DunnartThe Sandhill Dunnart is a species of small carnivorous Australian marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is known from four scattered arid areas of Australia: near Lake Amadeus in Northern Territory, the central Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, the southwestern edge of the Great Victoria Desert...
, Sminthopsis psammophila - Lesser Hairy-footed DunnartLesser Hairy-footed DunnartThe Lesser Hairy-footed Dunnart 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 Territory and Queensland...
, Sminthopsis youngsoni
- Hairy-footed Dunnart
- S. crassicaudata species-group