- Western Barred Bandicoot
Taxobox
name = Western Barred BandicootMSW3 Groves|pages=39]
status = EN
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = IUCN2006 | assessors = Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group | year = 1996 | title = Perameles bougainville | id = 16569 | downloaded =2006-12-26 ]
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
infraclassis =Marsupialia
ordo =Peramelemorphia
familia =Peramelidae
genus = "Perameles "
species = "P. bougainville"
binomial = "Perameles bougainville"
binomial_authority = Quoy & Gaimard, 1824The Western Barred Bandicoot ("Perameles bougainville"), also known as the Marl, is a small
species ofbandicoot found inAustralia . It was once widespread across southern Australia fromWestern Australia to centralNew South Wales , but it is now confined to Bernier, Dorre and Faure islands inShark Bay , Western Australia.cite book | last = Menkhorst | first = Peter | year = 2001 | title = A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia | publisher = Oxford University Press | pages = 78] [cite book | author = Flannery, Tim | year = 2005 | title = Country: a continent, a scientist & a kangaroo | id = ISBN 1-920885-76-5]The Western Barred Bandicoot is much smaller than its relative the
Eastern Barred Bandicoot ("Perameles gunnii"), and is darker in its colouring, which is a grizzled brown. It measures about 1.5 feet in length. cite book| last = Ellis| first = Richard| authorlink = Richard Ellis (biologist) | title = No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species| publisher = Harper Perennial | date = 2004| location = New York| pages = 226| isbn =0-06-055804-0 ] It has two "bars" across its rump and has a short, tapered tail. It is a solitary andcrepuscular hunter, eatinginsect s,spider s, andworm s and occasionallytuber s androot s. When the bandicoot feels threatened, it typically leaps into the air and then burrows to safety.This species is currently being re-introduced to nearby mainland areas of Western Australia, where predators such as the
Red Fox are the subject of control programs. It has also been successfully reintroduced into the Arid Recovery Reserve in South Australia.References
External links
* [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Perameles_bougainville/ ARKive on Western Barred Bandicoot]
* [http://www.aridrecovery.org.au Arid Recovery]
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