Burrowing Bettong
| Boodie | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Potoroidae |
| Genus: | Bettongia |
| Species: | B. lesueur |
| Binomial name | |
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Bettongia lesueur (Quoy & Gaimard, 1824) |
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| Subspecies | |
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| Boodie range (brown — native, pink — reintroduced) |
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The boodie (Bettongia lesueur), also known as the burrowing bettong, is a small marsupial. Its population is an example of the effects of introduced animals on Australian fauna and ecosystems. Once the most common macropodiform mammal on the whole continent, the boodie now only lives on off-lying islands and in a newly introduced population on the mainland at Shark Bay. This animal, first collected during an 1817 French expedition of the west coast, was named after Charles Lesueur, an artist and naturalist who accompanied a previous French expedition. B. lesueur is known by many common names, including the tungoo, Lesueur’s rat-kangaroo, and the short-nosed rat-kangaroo.
The boodie belongs to the family Potoroidae, which includes the rat-kangaroos, potoroos, and other bettongs. Four species make up the genus Bettongia. Also, three subspecies of Bettongia lesueur exist: B. l. graii, the extinct mainland subspecies; B. l. nova, an undescribed species on Barrow and Brodie Island; and B. l. lesueur.
Its common name is from the Nyungar language - burdi.
In the late Oligocene, fossils of paleopotoroines and potoroines (potoroid ancestors) appeared. During the Oligocene, ice buildup on Antarctica resulted in less rainfall on Australia. Rainforests declined, replaced by more arid-tolerant leathery leaf woodlands and reed swamps. This climate shift may have favored a radiation of terrestrial marsupials, including potoroid ancestors. Fossils of the family Potoroidae appear from the mid-Miocene to Recent sediments.Subfossil records of the burrowing bettong have been found in West Victoria, western New South Wales, and South Australia.
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Wikipedia