Gilbert's dunnart (''Sminthopsis gilberti'') is a recently discovered

dunnart 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 ...

, described in 1984. The length from snout to tail being of which the head and body are and the tail . The hind foot size is , the ear length is and with the weight is .

Distribution and habitat

Gilbert's dunnart is found in the southern wheat belt of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

close to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and the Swan River, as well as the

Roe plain Roe ( ) or hard roe is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooke ...

near the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

n border. The habitat it inhabits consists of heath and heathy forest and is abundant on coastal rangers, dry sclerophyll forest, semi-arid woodlands, and mallee scrub.

Social organisation and breeding

This

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 ...

species nests in hollows above ground or dense bush. Gilbert's dunnart breeds from September until December and young are weaned in January or February.

Diet

Gilbert's dunnart primarily eats insects.

References

* *

External links

Pictures and facts about the Gilbert's dunnartAustralian Biological Resources Study
Dasyuromorphs Mammals of Western Australia Marsupials of Australia Mammals described in 1984 Taxa named by Darrell Kitchener {{WesternAustralia-stub