''Ningaui'' is a genus of small species of the marsupial

dasyurid The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

family. Along with the

planigale The genus ''Planigale'' are small carnivorous marsupials found in Australia and New Guinea. It is the only genus in the tribe Planigalini of the subfamily Sminthopsinae. There are five species: * Paucident planigale, ''Planigale gilesi'' * Lon ...

s, they are among the smallest

marsupials 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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus was established in 1975 to accommodate two newly described species of

s, the type species ''

Ningaui timealeyi The Pilbara ningaui (''Ningaui timealeyi''), sometimes known as Ealey's ningaui, is a tiny species of marsupial carnivore found in Australia. Taxonomy The species was described by Mike Archer in 1975, distinguishing the new taxon from other ...

'' and ''

Ningaui ridei The Wongai ningaui (''Ningaui ridei'') is a tiny carnivorous marsupial native to the arid open grasslands of inland Australia. Their diet is mainly small insects, and occasionally larger prey such as spiders, grasshopperss and cockroaches, whic ...

''. The author, Mike Archer, compared his specimens to those of ''

Sminthopsis Dunnart is a common name for species of the genus ''Sminthopsis'', narrow-footed marsupials the size of a European mouse. They have a largely insectivorous diet. Taxonomy The genus name ''Sminthopsis'' was published by Oldfield Thomas in 18 ...

'' (the dunnarts), distinguishing the new taxon by the structure of the skull, the hindfoot, features of dentition and their smaller size, morphology that was presumed to be specialisations to a more arid environment. The author provided a diagnosis of two species that distinguished the populations by further details of cranial and dental characters. Archer notes the tentative alliance of the species to the genus ''

Planigale The genus ''Planigale'' are small carnivorous marsupials found in Australia and New Guinea. It is the only genus in the tribe Planigalini of the subfamily Sminthopsinae. There are five species: * Paucident planigale, ''Planigale gilesi'' * Lon ...

'' by

W. D. L. Ride William David Lindsay Ride (8 May 19266 November 2011), usually credited as W. D. L. Ride, was an Australian vertebrate zoologist and paleontologist who was the chair of the committee that wrote updated editions of the International Code of Zoo ...

in 1970, and provided a new definition of that genus to separate the new taxa. The three species of the genus are: * Wongai ningaui, ''Ningaui ridei'' *

Pilbara ningaui The Pilbara ningaui (''Ningaui timealeyi''), sometimes known as Ealey's ningaui, is a tiny species of marsupial carnivore found in Australia. Taxonomy The species was described by Mike Archer in 1975, distinguishing the new taxon from other ...

, ''Ningaui timealeyi'' * Southern ningaui, ''Ningaui yvonneae'' The name "ningaui" refers to a creature from Aboriginal myth. Archer refers to a published story of minute hairy creatures that emerged at night and ate their food uncooked, as an apt description the new genus.

Description

A genus of

Dasyuridae The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

. The tails of the species are all thin and lack any crest of brush-like fur, and equal to or greater in length than the head-body measurement. All ningaui are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

hunters of

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

. In appearance they resemble

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

or similar small

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, but can be distinguished by their pointed snouts. The genus ''Ningaui'' was one of the last of the Australian

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 ...

genera to be erected; this occurred with the surprise discovery of the Wongai ningaui (''N. ridei'') and the

(''N. timealeyi'') in 1975. All species are found in Australia and restricted to arid regions of the south coast, central deserts and northwest of the continent.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1754405 Dasyuromorphs Marsupials of Australia Marsupial genera Taxa named by Mike Archer (paleontologist)