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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

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Observations: Not much is known about the longevity of these animals. One animal was reportedly still living after 11.8 years in captivity (Ronald Nowak 1999), which is possible but unverified. Record longevity in captivity, however, belongs to one male specimen that lived 8.3 years (Richard Weigl 2005).
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Untitled

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The classification of B. gaimardi has changed considerably over the years. Bettongia gaimardi was first described in 1822 by the French scientist Desmarest and originally classified as two species in the genus Kangurus (Kangurus cuniculus and Kangurus gairmadi). Bettongs received the genus name Hypsiprymnus from Ogilby’s early work in 1837 (cited in Wakefield, 1967); however, the genus name was later changed to Bettongia, a word derived from its aboriginal name "small wallaby". Wakefield’s work in 1967 consolidated the two former species (B. cuniculus and B. gaimardi) into a single species and created two recognized subspecies instead: Bettongia gaimardi cuniculus (Tasmanian Bettong) and Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi (the mainland and now extinct form). For more information on the classification and discovery of B. gaimardi, please see Wakefield, 1967 or "Parks and Wildlife Services Tasmania" 2003.

For pictures of skulls, whole mounts, and drawings of Tasmanian bettongs (and other creatures native to the Australia area) please visit Museum Victoria

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Behavior

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Adult female B. gaimardi are known to make “tsk-tsk” sounds to call their young back to the pouch. Other species in Bettongia are reported to use their hind limbs to thump the ground and B. gaimardi is known to use scent glands near the anus to mark territories. Because of the interaction with the mother while living in her pouch, it is likely that tactile communication plays an important role between a mother and her young. Tactile communication is also likely to be important during mating.

Communication Channels: tactile ; acoustic ; chemical

Other Communication Modes: scent marks

Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Conservation Status

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Bettongia gaimardi is a protected species in Tasmania and is considered to be vulnerable because only 5% of its habitat lies within the bounds of national parks or other protected land. The rest of its habitat belongs to private owners who can alter the land at will. Competition with rabbits introduced to Tasmania also poses a threat. Because there was once a reward for its hide on the Australian mainland, hunting, combined with loss of habitat and introduced species, probably drove bettongs to extinction on the mainland.

Bettongia gaimardi cuniculus has been listed on the IUCN as a lower risk, nearthreatened species since 1996. Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi is listed as extinct and has not been recorded since 1910.

US Federal List: endangered

CITES: appendix i

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: near threatened

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Benefits

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There are no known negative effects of B. gaimardi on humans. However, other species belonging to the genus Bettongia, especially the burrowing bettong, are viewed as agricultural pests because they are known to dig up roots.

Negative Impacts: crop pest

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Benefits

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There are no known positive effects of B. gaimardi on humans, though they probably attract a few tourists to Tasmania.

Positive Impacts: ecotourism

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Associations

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Bettongia gaimardi builds a grass nest and enthusiastically digs for fungi. It therefore helps to aerate the soil, and has some impact on plant communities. To the extent that these animals serve as prey, they may also impact predator populations.

Ecosystem Impact: soil aeration

Species Used as Host:

  • None known

Mutualist Species:

  • None known

Commensal/Parasitic Species:

  • Ceratophyllus, Echidnophaga, Pygiopsylla, and Stephanocircus
  • Australaelaps, Haemaphysalis, and Ixodes
  • Heterodoxus
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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Trophic Strategy

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Bettongia gaimardi is mycophagous. Fungi may comprise as much as 80% of the diet. Other foods may be eaten, but fungi are preferred and unless it is scare. Bettongia gaimardi forages by hopping slowly using all four limbs and often uses the forelimbs to dig for food.

Animal Foods: insects

Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers; wood, bark, or stems; fruit; sap or other plant fluids

Other Foods: fungus

Primary Diet: mycophage

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Distribution

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Predation and habitat destruction in the early 1900s have restricted Tasmanian bettongs, Bettongia gaimardi cuniculus, to their current range, which includes most of the eastern half of Tasmania. Bettongia gaimardi inhabits arid regions, semi-arid regions, and sclerophyll forests of Tasmania and formerly parts of southern Australia. Eastern bettongs, B. g. gaimardi, were once found on mainland Australia in southern New South Wales and Victoria along the coast but are now extinct.

Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )

Other Geographic Terms: island endemic

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Habitat

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Bettongia gaimardi is found in terrestrial, temperate habitats including grasslands, grassy woodlands, dry eucalyptus forests, and sclerophyll forests (i.e., forests containing plants with hard, short and usually spiky leaves). This species is found from sea level to elevations around 1,000 m.

Range elevation: 0 to 1000 m.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Life Expectancy

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Little is known about the lifespan of Tasmanian bettongs in capitivity and there is debate about its lifespan in the wild. In captivity, B. gaimardi can live between 7 and 12 years, and its wild lifespan is much shorter, ranging from 3 to 6 years on average.

Range lifespan
Status: wild:
7 (high) years.

Range lifespan
Status: captivity:
Unknown (high) years.

Typical lifespan
Status: wild:
3 to 6 years.

Average lifespan
Status: wild:
3-6 years.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity:
11.8 years.

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Morphology

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Bettongia gaimardi has a small, compact body. Average total length is 65 cm. Males are slightly longer and thinner than females, although sexual dimorphism is not pronounced. These animals weigh between 1.2 and 2.3 kg.

Pelage is light brown with white flecks. This species has the longest fur and the lightest coloration in Bettongia. The long tail gradually gets darker from base to tip. The hair is slightly longer on the tail and has white tips, a distinguishing characteristic of B. gaimardi. The tail of B. gaimardi tends to be slightly longer than its head-body measurement, although both range between 32 and 33 cm in adults. The belly is very light in color. Digits II and III are, as in other macropods, syndactylous.

An adult female has four teats and a forward opening pouch. A resting, non-lactating female has a basal metabolic rate of approximately 229 kJ/day or 0.51 g of oxygen per hour.

Body temperatures vary with time of day and with estrous cycle, but typically fall between 36.2°C (midday) and 37.5°C (midnight). Bettongia gaimardi sweats to cool off, using sweat glands on its hind limbs, at the base of the tail, and inside the female’s pouch.

Range mass: 1.2 to 2.3 kg.

Average mass: 1.6-1.8 kg.

Range length: 31 to 33 cm.

Average basal metabolic rate: 389 cm3.O2/g/hr.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: male larger

Average basal metabolic rate: 3.578 W.

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Associations

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Foxes contributed to the extinction of bettongs on the Australian mainland. Thylacines, Thylacinus cynocephalus, were a likely predator before they became extinct in Tasmania. Birds of prey, such as wedge-tailed eagles and owls, prey upon Tasmanian bettongs, as do feral cats and dogs. There have been reports of Eastern quolls preying upon B. gaimardi, but they have been met with skepticism.

Known Predators:

  • Thylacinus cynocephalus
  • Dasyurus viverrinus
  • Aquila audax
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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Reproduction

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Female B. gaimardi will not allow males near them except while in heat or while the males check the female for estrus by sniffing. If the male takes too long to check, the female will sometimes kick and hiss until the male leaves. Estrus lasts one night, though mating may occur several times during that single night so occasionally a male and female may be seen together. The estrous cycle lasts 22 to 23 days. Bettongia gaimardi is believed to be polygynous and to breed continuously, however, harsh environment conditions may limit breeding in the wild.

Mating System: polygynous

As in other macropods, B. gaimardi embryos experience a pause in development between fertilization and implantation. A single female may have one young leaving and re-entering the pouch, another suckling, and a third offspring in utero waiting to implant. This allows for continuous reproduction with offspring at all stages of development, and allows for fast replacement of young should one be lost. The estrous cycle is 1.5 days shorter in a pregnant female so that she gives birth just before releasing another egg. Before birth, the pouch muscles tighten so that older offspring cannot re-enter it. The female’s reproductive tract also lacks a birth canal, which forms just before birth and degenerates after birth. It is re-formed for every offspring. Males are atypical for macropods because they do not have a forked penis.

Females can produce 1 offspring per gestation but because a female can produce up to 3 young per year, she can have as many as 10 to 15 young in her lifetime. The young are born ectothermic, blind, and poorly developed. They gradually attain the ability to produce metabolic heat, open their eyes, and continue development in the pouch. The gestation period is 21 days with a 105 day pouch life, and there are 106 days between consecutive births.

Breeding interval: Breeding occurs immediately after a females gives birth. There is a minimum of 106 days between births, assuming that neither the joey nor the embryo is lost.

Breeding season: Breeding occurs year round in captivity and in the wild, though environmental conditions may affect reproduction in the wild.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Average gestation period: 21 days.

Average weaning age: 154-155 days.

Average time to independence: 156 days.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8 to 12 years.

Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 12 (high) months.

Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous ; delayed implantation ; embryonic diapause

Average birth mass: 0.307 g.

Average gestation period: 20 days.

Average number of offspring: 1.

Male B. gaimardi do not take part in parenting; females are solely responsible for the young. Females carry each offspring first in utero and then in the pouch, protecting it and nursing it until the offspring can become independent. The offspring then leaves its mother's nest and disperses.

Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)

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Gallego, M. 2005. "Bettongia gaimardi" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bettongia_gaimardi.html
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Eastern bettong

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The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi), also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like most marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia (B. g. gaimardi) is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies (B. g. cuniculus) have been reintroduced there.[1][4]

The animal is called balbo by the Ngunnawal, an Aboriginal people who used to keep them as pets.

Subspecies

Two formerly recognised species, Bettongia cuniculus (Tasmanian bettong) and Bettongia gaimardi (eastern bettong), were placed into a single species with two subspecies by Wakefield in 1967:[5][6]

  • B. g. gaimardi, mainland subspecies (now extinct)
  • B. g. cuniculus, Tasmanian subspecies

The introduction of the red fox and European rabbit to Australia led to the extinction of the mainland subspecies during the 1920s.[2][6] The Tasmanian subspecies still exists.[2]

In 2012, a small population was reintroduced to the mainland in Canberra.[7] The reintroduction to Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary was successful, and led to further reintroductions using an on-site breeding program out of the nearby Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and wild eastern bettongs translocated from Tasmania.[8]

Diet and behaviour

This animal's habitat is dry, open eucalypt forests and grassy woodlands at altitudes between sea level and 1,000 meters.

A major component of their diet is truffles and other underground fungi, as well as roots and tubers. Insects and grubs are also eaten. It is unique in that it will travel up to 1.5 km from its nest to a feeding area, a considerable distance for such a small creature.[9]

A nocturnal animal, the bettong sleeps during the day in a domed nest. The nests are made with densely woven grass, leaves and shredded bark in a sheltered site such as a shallow depression in the ground or under a fallen log or clump of vegetation. The animal uses its curved prehensile tail to transport the nesting materials to the nest site.[9] The animal only uses the nest for one or two nights, before it moves on in search of food.

Like other bettongs, the eastern bettong is a continuous breeder, producing young throughout the year.[10] The gestation period is 21 days, after which the infant (referred to as a "joey") remains in the pouch for an additional 105 days.

Threats

While the mainland population became extinct in the 1920s,[2][6] the Tasmanian population has remained secure.[2] One concern is that most of the bettongs are found on private land, with only two groups found within reserves. Red foxes are a major threat.[11][12] The International Union for Conservation of Nature has raised the threat status for eastern bettongs from least concern to near threatened.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 57. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Burbidge, A.A.; Woinarski, J.; Johnson, C.N. (2016). "Bettongia gaimardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T2783A21960911. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T2783A21960911.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
  4. ^ Rose, R. (1997). Metabolic rate and thermal conductance in a mycophagous marsupial, Bettongia gaimardi. Archived 2008-07-23 at the Wayback Machine The World Wide Web Journal of Biology 2: 2-7.
  5. ^ Wakefield, N. (1967). Some taxonomic revision in the Australian marsupial genus Bettongia, with description of a new species. The Victorian Naturalist. 84:8-22.
  6. ^ a b c Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2011). Bettongia gaimardi gaimardi in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra. Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Thu, 29 Dec 2011 06:51:31 +1100. (http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66656)
  7. ^ ABC News Rare marsupials found fat and happy in new home http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-20/marsupials-found-fat-and-happy-in-their-new-home/4472690
  8. ^ "Eastern Bettong Reintroduction". www.mfgowoodlandexperiment.org.au. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  9. ^ a b Department of Primary Industries and Water (August 2006). [1] The Tasmanian bettong]. Department of Primary Industries and Water.
  10. ^ University of Tasmania, School of Zoology. [2] Archived 2009-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Profile – Tasmanian Bettong]. University of Tasmania.
  11. ^ Department of Primary Industries and Water - Foxes in Tasmania http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/ThemeNodes/LBUN-5K438G
  12. ^ Foxes in Tasmania-Invasive Animals CRC Report http://www.dpiw.tas.gov.au/inter.nsf/publications/lbun-6r26gg?

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Eastern bettong: Brief Summary

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The eastern bettong (Bettongia gaimardi), also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like most marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia (B. g. gaimardi) is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies (B. g. cuniculus) have been reintroduced there.

The animal is called balbo by the Ngunnawal, an Aboriginal people who used to keep them as pets.

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