Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal

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 po ...

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

s in the order

Peramelemorphia The order Peramelemorphia includes the bandicoots and bilbies; it equates approximately to the mainstream of marsupial omnivores. All members of the order are endemic to the twin land masses of Australia-New Guinea and most have the character ...

. They are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

–

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

region, including the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

to the east and

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

and

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island. Hal ...

to the west.

Etymology

The bandicoot is a member of the order

, and the word "bandicoot" is often used informally to refer to any peramelemorph, such as the bilby. The term originally referred to the unrelated Indian

bandicoot rat ''Bandicota'' is a genus of rodents from Asia known as the bandicoot rats. Their common name and genus name are derived from the Telugu language word ''pandikokku'' (పందికొక్కు). DNA studies have found the group to be a monop ...

from the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

word ''pandikokku'' (పందికొక్కు).

Characteristics

Bandicoots have V-shaped faces, ending with their prominent noses similar to probosces. These noses make them, along with bilbies, similar in appearance to

elephant shrews Elephant shrews, also called jumping shrews or sengis, are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea. Their traditional common English name "elephant shrew" comes from a perc ...

and extinct leptictids, and they are distantly related to both mammal groups. With their well-attuned snouts and sharp claws, bandicoot are fossorial diggers. They have small but fine teeth that allow them to easily chew their food. Like most marsupials, male bandicoots have bifurcated penises. The

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

s of bandicoots have a chorioallantoic placenta that connects them to the

uterine The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ...

wall, in addition to the choriovitelline placenta that is common to all marsupials. However, the chorioallantoic placenta is small compared to those of the

Placentalia Placental mammals (infraclass Placentalia ) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguished ...

, and lacks chorionic villi. Bandicoots can reach in length, and in weight. A bandicoot has a long, pointed snout, large ears, a short body, and a long tail. Its body is covered with fur that can be brown, black, golden, white, or gray in color. Bandicoots have strong hind legs well adapted for jumping.

Classification

Classification within the Peramelemorphia was previously thought to be straightforward, with two families in the order—the short-legged and mostly

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

bandicoots, and the longer-legged, nearly

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

bilbies. In recent years, however, the situation clearly has become more complex. First, the bandicoots of the

n and far-northern Australian

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s were deemed distinct from all other bandicoots and were grouped together in the separate family

Peroryctidae The New Guinean long-nosed bandicoots (genus ''Peroryctes'') are members of the order (biology), order Peramelemorphia. They are small to medium-sized marsupial omnivores native to New Guinea. Two fossil taxa from Australia, ''Peroryctes tedford ...

. More recently, the bandicoot families were reunited in the

Peramelidae The marsupial family Peramelidae contains all of the extant bandicoots. They are found throughout Australia and New Guinea, with at least some species living in every available habitat, from rainforest to desert. Four fossil peramelids are descri ...

, with the New Guinean species split into four genera in two subfamilies,

Peroryctinae The New Guinean long-nosed bandicoots (genus ''Peroryctes'') are members of the order Peramelemorphia. They are small to medium-sized marsupial omnivores native to New Guinea. Two fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preser ...

and Echymiperinae, while the "true bandicoots" occupy the subfamily Peramelinae. The only exception is the now-extinct

pig-footed bandicoot ''Chaeropus'', known as the pig-footed bandicoots, is a genus of small mammals that became extinct during the 20th century. They were unique marsupials, of the order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies), with unusually thin legs, yet were ab ...

, which has been given its own family, Chaeropodidae. * Order

**Superfamily Perameloidea ***Unclassified family **** Genus ''†

Galadi ''Galadi'' is an extinct genus of predatory bandicoot from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia. It was first named by K.J. Travouillon, Y. Gurovich, R.M.D. Beck and J. Muirhead in 2010 and the type species ...

'': 4 species **** Genus ''† Bulungu'': 3 species **** Genus ''†Madju'': 2 species *** Family

Thylacomyidae ''Macrotis'' is a genus of desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores known as bilbies or rabbit-bandicoots; Unabridged they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. The ...

**** Genus ''

Macrotis ''Macrotis'' is a genus of desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores known as bilbies or rabbit-bandicoots; Unabridged they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. The ...

'': 2 species **** Genus ''†Ischnodon'': 1 species **** Genus ''†Liyamayi'': 1 extinct species *** Family †Chaeropodidae:

Pig-footed bandicoot ''Chaeropus'', known as the pig-footed bandicoots, is a genus of small mammals that became extinct during the 20th century. They were unique marsupials, of the order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies), with unusually thin legs, yet were ab ...

**** Genus ''†

Chaeropus ''Chaeropus'', known as the pig-footed bandicoots, is a genus of small mammals that became extinct during the 20th century. They were unique marsupials, of the order Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies), with unusually thin legs, yet were a ...

'': 1 species *** Family

**** Subfamily Peramelinae ***** Genus ''

Isoodon The short-nosed bandicoots (genus ''Isoodon'') are members of the order Peramelemorphia. These marsupials can be found across Australia, although their distribution can be patchy. Genetic evidence suggests that short-nosed bandicoots diverged fro ...

'':

short-nosed bandicoot The short-nosed bandicoots (genus ''Isoodon'') are members of the order Peramelemorphia. These marsupials can be found across Australia, although their distribution can be patchy. Genetic evidence suggests that short-nosed bandicoots diverged fro ...

s, 3 species ***** Genus ''

Perameles ''Perameles'' is a genus of marsupials of the order Peramelemorphia. They are referred to as long-nosed bandicoots or barred bandicoots. ''Perameles'', or ‘pouched badger’, is a hybrid word, from the Greek (πήρα, ‘pouch, bag’) and ...

'':

long-nosed bandicoot The long-nosed bandicoot (''Perameles nasuta''), a marsupial, is a species of bandicoot found in eastern Australia, from north Queensland along the east coast to Victoria. Around long, it is sandy- or grey-brown with a long snouty nose. Omnivor ...

s, 3 extant species **** Subfamily

***** Genus '' Peroryctes'': New Guinean long-nosed bandicoots, 2 species **** Subfamily Echymiperinae ***** Genus '' Echymipera'': New Guinean spiny bandicoots, 5 species ***** Genus '' Microperoryctes'': New Guinean mouse bandicoots, 5 species ***** Genus ''

Rhynchomeles The Seram bandicoot (''Rhynchomeles prattorum''), also known as the Seram Island long-nosed bandicoot, is a member of the order Peramelemorphia that is endemic to the island of Seram in Indonesia. It is the only species in the genus ''Rhynchomel ...

'':

Seram bandicoot The Seram bandicoot (''Rhynchomeles prattorum''), also known as the Seram Island long-nosed bandicoot, is a member of the order Peramelemorphia that is endemic to the island of Seram in Indonesia. It is the only species in the genus ''Rhynchomel ...

, 1 species ** Superfamily †

Yaraloidea ''Yarala'' is a genus of fossil mammals that resemble contemporary bandicoots. The superfamily Yaraloidea and family Yaralidae were created following the discovery of the type species ''Yarala burchfieldi'' in 1995, on the basis that it lacks sy ...

*** Family † Yaralidae **** Genus †''

Yarala ''Yarala'' is a genus of fossil mammals that resemble contemporary bandicoots. The superfamily Yaraloidea and family Yaralidae were created following the discovery of the type species ''Yarala burchfieldi'' in 1995, on the basis that it lacks syn ...

'': 2 species

Vernacular names

The name bandicoot is an Anglicised version of a word from the Telugu language of South India which translates as 'pig-rat'. What are now called bandicoots are not found in India and bandicoot was originally applied to completely unrelated mammals—several species of large rats (

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s). Today, these species, belonging to the genera ''

Bandicota ''Bandicota'' is a genus of rodents from Asia known as the bandicoot rats. Their common name and genus name are derived from the Telugu language word ''pandikokku'' (పందికొక్కు). DNA studies have found the group to be a mon ...

'' and ''

Nesokia ''Nesokia'' is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to West Asia and Central Asia known as the short-tailed bandicoot rats. Species Genus ''Nesokia'' - short-tailed bandicoot rats: * Short-tailed bandicoot rat (''Nesokia indica'') G ...

'', are referred to as bandicoot rats. Blust reconstructs the

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form also refers to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data ...

*mansar or *mansər 'bandicoot' for Proto- Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (i.e., the reconstructed

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

of the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages) from related words like Oceanic Motu and Fijian , but the validity of this reconstruction is doubted by Schapper (2011). It is known as ''aine'' in the Abinomn language of Papua,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Bandicoots have different names by the indigenous peoples of the Australia-New Guinea region. For example, the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...

people refer to the southern brown bandicoot as the ''bung'' or the ''marti''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q244587 Peramelemorphs Marsupials of Oceania Marsupials of Australia Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea es:Bandicut