Overview
Distribution
Range Description
The subspecies B. p. penicillata occurred in south-eastern Australia and is now considered to be extinct. B. p. ogilbyi currently occurs as natural populations at Dryandra Woodland, Perup Nature Reserve (and adjacent areas within the Upper Warren River Catchment, as far west as Kingston Forest and south near Lake Muir), and at Tutanning Nature Reserve. Sightings in Fitzgerald River National Park have not been confirmed, despite extensive trapping. B. p. ogilbyi has been translocated to 46 sites in Western Australia, notably Batalling Forest, Boyagin Nature Reserve, Julimar CP, two privately-owned sanctuaries (Karakamia and Paruna), and multiple sites in the northern jarrah forest as part of research into the effectiveness of different rates of aerial fox baiting (Operation Foxglove). There have also been three translocation sites in New South Wales (including Scotia Sanctuary) and 12 in South Australia, including Venus Bay Island A, Wedge Island, St. Peter Island, mainland Venus Bay CP, and Yookamurra Sanctuary. These translocations have met with mixed success, although some are too recent for their success to be measured.
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Geographic Range
Widespread at the time of European colonization, Bettongia penicillata is now confined to south-west Western Australia (Christensen 1983).
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
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Australia
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The head and body length of B. penicillata ranges from 300-380 mm. Its tail length ranges from 290-360 mm. Its body is yellowish-grey above and paler below (Christensen 1983). The feet of B. penicillata are pale brown with bristly hairs not concealing the claws. Its long tail has a prominent black crest along the terminal third or two-thirds of the upper surface. The undersurface of its tail is pale brown (Lydekker 1894). Males and females are similar in appearence and no geographic variation has been reported (Christensen 1983).
Range mass: 1.1 to 1.6 kg.
Average basal metabolic rate: 3.132 W.
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
Bettongia penicillata appears to have been primarily an animal of open forests and woodlands. A common characteristic in all habitats occupied by the surviving populations in south-west Western Australia is a clumped, low understory of tussock grasses or clumped, low, woody shrubs (Christensen 1983).
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Bettongia penicillata does not drink water or eat any green plant material. It is primarily fungivorous, its food consisting largely of the fruiting bodies of underground fungi, supplemented by bulbs, tubers, seeds, insects and resin, probably from Hakea shrubs. The proportion of fungal material in the diet is greatest in summer and autumn. Being deficient and imbalanced as a source of amino acids, fungus is not a good food for mammals but B. penicillata does not utilize it directly. Bacteria in the large sacculated fore-stomach digest the fungus, and these bacteria and their by-products, which constitute a more balanced diet, are themselves digested in the posterior part of the stomach and small intestine (Christensen 1983).
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 18.8 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
In B. penicillata, bredding is continuous (Christensen 1983). The gestation period is 21 days. A single altricial young is born, which has a short pouch life of about 98 days (Seebeck 1995). The young subsequently accompanies its mother at heel, sharing her nest until the next infant vacates the pouch and displaces it. While sharing the nest, the young continues suckling. A female gives birth to its first young at the age of 170-180 days and approximately every 100 days thereafter for the rest of its life of 4-6 years. Embryonic diapause is exhibited. (Christensen 1983).
Average birth mass: 0.29 g.
Average gestation period: 18 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 180 days.
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 1996Lower Risk/conservation dependent
- 1994Endangered(Groombridge 1994)
- 1990Endangered(IUCN 1990)
- 1988Endangered(IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)
- 1986Endangered(IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1986)
- 1982Endangered(Thornback and Jenkins 1982)
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Conservation Status
Members of this speices are no longer present in Victoria, and are now found only in a few localities in south-west Western Australia. Recent Red Fox control at several sites in this region resulted in substantial population increases of B. penicillata (up to 400%) as well as increases in distributional range. It has been introduced to several islands in South Australia, but only two of these islands are capable of maintaining viable populations in the long-term (Seebeck 1995).
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: critically endangered
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Status: Endangered
Date Listed: 12/02/1970
Lead Region: Foreign (Region 10)
Where Listed:
Population detail:
Population location: entire
Listing status: E
For most current information and documents related to the conservation status and management of Bettongia penicillata , see its USFWS Species Profile
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Trends
Population
The population of this species at the following locations is currently estimated as: Wedge Island - 1,500; St. Peter Island - 2,000; Venus Bay Peninsula - 1,500; Dryandra - low hundreds; Peron - 100; Upper Warren - low thousands; Tutanning Nature Reserve - 100; Julimar - 200; Boyagin - 100. There are now fewer than 50 in Lincoln National Park, and fewer than 50 in Venus Bay Island A.
Population Trend
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Threats
Threats
The cause of the dramatic population decline since 2001 is a mystery. Although some small populations have declined or even disappeared, large declines have occurred in all large populations, and the declines appear to exhibit density dependence (A. Wayne pers. comm.). For this reason, there is some hope that in a couple of years declines will stabilize allowing the species to persist at lower densities. However, within a year or two there may only be about 1,000 individuals left in the three most important (original) populations combined (A. Wayne pers. comm.).
Some of the smaller, translocated populations have failed, some appear to have met with success, and for others it is too early to know whether they have succeeded. Because the translocated populations are small they are subject to stochastic events. In addition, many of these populations were started with few individuals and there are likely to be issues of genetic viability. For example, the population on Wedge Island (1,500 individuals) was founded with as few as four individuals (A. Wayne pers. comm.).
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Management
Conservation Actions
This species is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
N/A
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Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
N/A
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Wikipedia
Woylie
The woylie (Bettongia penicillata), also known as the brush-tailed bettong, is a small marsupial that belongs to the genus Bettongia. It is endemic to Australia. Formerly it had two separate subspecies, Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi and the now extinct Bettongia penicillata penicillata.
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Description
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The woylie is a small macropod being only some 30–35 cm high, with a long, 30 cm tail. The fur of this bettong is yellowish-brown in color with a patch of paler fur on its belly while the end of its furry tail is dark colored. It has little or no hair on their muzzle and tail. This species has a more slender build and larger ears than its relative the Burrowing Bettong.[3][4][5]
Distribution and Habitat
The woylie once inhabited more than 60% of the Australian mainland but now occurs only on less than 1%. The woylie formerly ranged over all of the southwest of Eastern Australia, most of South Australia, the northwest corner of Victoria and across the central portion of New South Wales. It was abundant in the mid-19th century. By the 1920s, it was extinct over much of its range. As of 1992, it was reported only from four small areas in Western Australia. In South Australia, a number of populations have been established through reintroduction of captive-bred animals. As of 1996, it occurred in six sites in Western Australia, including Karakamia Sanctuary run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), and on three islands and two mainland sites in South Australia, following the reintroduction program and the controlling of foxes. Today this species lives mostly in open sclerophyll forest and Malee eucalyptus woodlands with a dense low under story of tussock grasses.[3] However this versatile species is also known to have once inhabited a wide range of habitats, including low arid scrub or desert spinifex grasslands.[6][7]
Ecology and Behaviour
This species is strictly nocturnal and is not gregarious. It can breed all year round if the conditions are favorable. The female can breed at six months of age and give birth every 3.5 months. Its life span in the wild is about 4–6 years.[3] The woylie is able to use its tail, curled around in a prehensile manner, to carry bundles of nesting material. It builds its dome-shaped nest in a shallow scrape under a bush. The nest, which consists of grass and shredded bark, sticks, leaves and other available material is well-made and hidden. The woylie rests in its nest during the day and emerges at night to feed.
The woylie has an unusual diet for a mammal. Although it may eat bulbs, tubers, seeds, insects and resin of the hakea plant, the bulk of its nutrients are derived from underground fungi which it digs out with its strong foreclaws. These fungi which can only be digested indirectly. In a portion of its stomach, the fungi are consumed by bacteria. These bacteria produce the nutrients that are digested in the rest of the stomach and small intestine. When it was widespread and abundant, the woylie likely played an important role in the dispersal of fungal spores within desert ecosystems.[7] There are also established reports of Brush-tailed Bettongs feeding on carrion.[8] This Bettong was also hunted by Indigenous Australians, to whom it was one of the most favorite articles of food.[4][5]
Population and current status
This bettong was once very abundant and widespread across Australia. In 1863, Gould mentioned it was "abundant in all parts of the colony". As late as 1910 the species as said to be very abundant in the Australian southwest[9] Decline seems to have been caused by a number of factors, including the impact of introduced grazing animals, land clearance for agriculture, predation by introduced red foxes and, possibly, changed fire regimes. As a result, this species suffered localized extinctions throughout its range, and was very endangered by the 1970s.
Subsequent conservation efforts concentrated on controlling the feral fox and reintroducing woylies from expanding populations to fox-free sites in its former range. Stable populations have been established in places like Venus Bay, St Peter Island, Wedge Island, Shark Bay or Scotia Sanctuary. As a result of these efforts, the woylie population rose to sufficient numbers that it was taken off the threatened species list in 1996. The population expanded with new, wild-born joeys being recorded and survived several drought years in the early 2000s. The total population of this species rose to 40 000 in 2001.
However there was a sudden population crash in late 2001 and in just 5 years in most areas the woylie population dropped to only 10-30% of its pre 2001 numbers. The IUCN Red List also revised the woylie as critically endangered.
The exact cause of this rapid population crash remains uncertain, although researcher Andrew Thompson has found two parasite infestations in woylie blood.[10] Predation and habitat destruction were also suggested as contributing to the recent decline of the species.[11]
As of 2011, the global population is estimated to be less than 5 600 individuals.[6]
References
Cited references
- ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. eds. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 57. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- ^ Wayne, A., Friend, T., Burbidge, A., Morris, K. & van Weenen, J. (2008). Bettongia penicillata. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as critically endangered
- ^ a b c http://www.sharkbay.org/default.aspx?WebPageID=263
- ^ a b http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/animals/threatened/pdf/mammals/lesser_bilby_ex.pdf
- ^ a b Francis Harper (1945). Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World. http://www.archive.org/details/extinctvanishing00harprich.
- ^ a b http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/2785/0
- ^ a b http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/wildlife/animals/threatened/pdf/mammals/brushtailed_bettong_ex.pdf
- ^ http://www.australianfauna.com/brushtailedbettong.php
- ^ Francis Harper (1945). Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World url=http://www.archive.org/details/extinctvanishing00harprich.
- ^ Leonie Harris (2008-10-07 url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2384667.htm). "Woylie marsupial under threat". 7.30 report.
- ^ http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66844
General references
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