The Kakadu dunnart (''Sminthopsis bindi'') is a
dunnart first described in 1994 and whose closest relative is the
Carpentarian dunnart
The Carpentarian dunnart (''Sminthopsis butleri'') also known as Butler's dunnart is a marsupial 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 7 ...
. It typically has a body length of 50-85mm with a tail 60-105mm long, for a total length between 110-190mm. It weighs between 10-25g, placing it in the mid-range of dunnarts. Its colour is grey, gingery on the upper body and underbelly, with white feet.
The Kakadu dunnart lives near the
Top End
The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...
of the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of
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 ...
around the
Kakadu National Park. It prefers a habitat of stony woodlands on a hilly geography.
[
Little is known about the social organisation or breeding habits of this species, as it is not well studied, but it probably breeds in the ]dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
and may burrow.[
Its diet may include ]arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s and other insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s.[
]
References
External links
Australian Biological Resources StudyInvasion of the killer toads threatens Outback heritage
{{Taxonbar, from=Q135163
Dasyuromorphs
Mammals of the Northern Territory
Marsupials of Australia
Mammals described in 1994
Arnhem Land tropical savanna