The

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 ...

family Peramelidae contains all of the extant

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

s. They are found throughout

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 ...

and

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 ...

, with at least some species living in every available habitat, from rainforest to desert. Four fossil peramelids are described. One known extinct species of bandicoot, the

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 abl ...

, was so different from the other species, it was recently moved into its own family.

Characteristics

Peramelids are small marsupials, ranging in size from the

mouse bandicoot The mouse bandicoot (''Microperoryctes murina'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is endemic to West Papua, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania betw ...

, which is 15-17.5 cm long, to the

giant bandicoot The giant bandicoot (''Peroryctes broadbenti'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hu ...

, which at 39–56 cm in length and up 4.7 kg in weight, is about the size of a

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

. They have short limbs and tails, smallish, mouse-like ears, and a long, pointed snout. Peramelids are

omnivorous 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 nutri ...

, with soil-dwelling invertebrates forming the major part of their diet; they also eat seeds, fruit, and fungi. Their teeth are correspondingly unspecialised, with most species having the

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...

Female peramelids have a pouch that opens to the rear and contains eight teats. The maximum litter size is, therefore, eight, since marsupial young are attached to the teat during development, although two to four young per litter is a more typical number. The

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...

period of peramelids is the shortest among mammals, at just 12.5 days, the young are

weaned Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or another mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk. The infan ...

around two months of age, and reach sexual maturity at just three months. This allows a given female to produce more than one litter per breeding season and gives peramelids an unusually high reproductive rate compared with other marsupials.

Classification

The listing for extant species is based on The Third edition of Wilson & Reeder's

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

(2005), except where th
Mammal Diversity Database
and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

agree on a change. * Family Peramelidae ** Subfamily

Peramelinae 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 descr ...

*** Genus ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

''† **** ''

Crash bandicoot ''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series co ...

''† (fossil) *** 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 fr ...

'': short-nosed bandicoots ****

Golden bandicoot The golden bandicoot (''Isoodon auratus''; Yolngu: ''Wan'kurra'') is a short-nosed bandicoot found in northern Australia. It is the smallest of its genus. The golden bandicoot is now a threatened species. It was once found throughout much o ...

, ''Isoodon auratus'' ****

Northern brown bandicoot The northern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon macrourus''), a marsupial species, is a bandicoot found only on the northern and eastern coasts of Australia and nearby islands, mainly Papua New Guinea. It is not, however, found far inland. Description ...

, ''Isoodon macrourus'' ****

Southern brown bandicoot The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word ''). Taxonomy George Shaw ...

, ''Isoodon obesulus'' *** 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 or barred bandicoots ****

Western barred bandicoot The Western barred bandicoot (''Perameles bougainville''), also known as the Marl, is a small species of bandicoot; now extinct across most of its former range, the western barred bandicoot only survives on offshore islands and in fenced sanctuar ...

, ''Perameles bougainville'' ****

Desert bandicoot The desert bandicoot (''Perameles eremiana'') is an extinct bandicoot of the arid country in the centre of Australia. Taxonomy The description by Walter Baldwin Spencer was published in 1897, using a specimen provided by a European correspondent ...

, ''Perameles eremiana''† (extinct) ****

New South Wales barred bandicoot New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

, ''Perameles fasciata''† (extinct) ****

Eastern barred bandicoot The eastern barred bandicoot (''Perameles gunnii'') is a nocturnal, rabbit-sized marsupial endemic to southeastern Australia, being native to the island of Tasmania and mainland Victoria. It is one of three surviving bandicoot species in the ge ...

, ''Perameles gunnii'' ****

Southwestern barred bandicoot The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, ''Perameles myosuros''† (extinct) ****

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 ...

, ''Perameles nasuta'' ****

Southern barred bandicoot Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

, ''Perameles notina''† (extinct) ****

Ooldea barred bandicoot ''Perameles papillon'', the Nullarbor barred bandicoot,Threatened Species Scientific Committee (2021). ''Listing Advice'' Perameles papillon ''Nullarbor Barred Bandicoot''. Canberra: Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. http://w ...

, ''Perameles papillon'')† (extinct)Travouillon & Phillips (2018)
"Total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia): Reassessment of two species and description of a new species"
''Zootaxa''. February 2018. ****''

Perameles allinghamensis ''Perameles allinghamensis'', the Bluff Downs bandicoot, is a small extinct bandicoot that lived in Australia 4 million years ago in the Pliocene period. It was discovered at the Bluff Downs fossil site in northern Queensland ) , nickname ...

''† (fossil) ****''

Perameles bowensis ''Perameles bowensis'' is an extinct Pliocene-aged species of bandicoot. Fossils have been found in the Wellington Caves of New South Wales.Muirhead, J., Dawson, L. & Archer, M. 1997. Perameles bowensis, a new species of ''Perameles'' (Peramelomo ...

''† (fossil) ****''

Perameles sobbei ''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 ...

''† (fossil) ** Subfamily

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 taxa from Australia Australia, officially the C ...

*** Genus '' Peroryctes'': New Guinean long-nosed bandicoots ****

Giant bandicoot The giant bandicoot (''Peroryctes broadbenti'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hu ...

, ''Peroryctes broadbenti'' ****

Raffray's bandicoot Raffray's bandicoot (''Peroryctes raffrayana'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peroryctidae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is known as pakam in the Kalam la ...

, ''Peroryctes raffrayana'' ****'' cf. Peroryctes tedfordi''† (fossil) ****'' cf. Peroryctes sp.''† (fossil) ** Subfamily

Echymiperinae 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 ...

*** Genus '' Echymipera'': New Guinean spiny bandicoots ****

Long-nosed spiny bandicoot The long-nosed echymipera (''Echymipera rufescens''), or long-nosed spiny bandicoot, is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dr ...

, ''Echymipera rufescens'' **** Clara's spiny bandicoot, ''Echymipera clara'' ****

Menzies' spiny bandicoot Menzies' echymipera (''Echymipera echinista''), or Menzies' spiny bandicoot or Fly River bandicoot, is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papu ...

, ''Echymipera echinista'' **** Common spiny bandicoot, ''Echymipera kalubu'' **** David's spiny bandicoot, ''Echymipera davidi'' *** Genus '' Microperoryctes'' : New Guinean mouse bandicoots ****

Mouse bandicoot The mouse bandicoot (''Microperoryctes murina'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is endemic to West Papua, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania betw ...

, ''Microperoryctes murina'' **** Western striped bandicoot, ''Microperoryctes longicauda'' ****

Arfak pygmy bandicoot The Arfak pygmy bandicoot (''Microperoryctes aplini'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is endemic to the Arfak mountains in the Vogelkop Peninsula of West Papua, in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropica ...

, ''Microperoryctes aplini'' ****

Papuan bandicoot The Papuan bandicoot (''Microperoryctes papuensis'') is a species of marsupial in the family Peramelidae. It is endemic to the Bird's Tail Peninsula The Papuan Peninsula, also known as the Bird's Tail Peninsula, is a large peninsula in Papua ...

, ''Microperoryctes papuensis'' *** 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 ...

, ''Rhynchomeles prattorum''

References

* *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q23146 Peramelemorphs Mammal families Taxa named by John Edward Gray