Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
P. tenuirostris is fairly uncommon. (Read, 1987)
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
P. tenuirostris lives in sympatry with P. gilesi and the two appear to partitioning food resources. This is partly due to body size differences (P. gilesi is larger than P. tenuirostris). Also, partitioning occurs due to the fact that P. tenuirostris lives in the deepest parts of the cavities, while P. gilesi lives at intermediate crack depths. (Read, 1987)
P. tenuirostris is a generalist insectivore; their diet reflects the available prey. Arthropods eaten include Coleoptera (beetles) and Araneidae (orbweavers), taxa not bigger than 800 cu mm. They may also eat small lizards. (Read, 1987)
Animal Foods: reptiles; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore , Eats non-insect arthropods)
Planigale tenuirostris occupies inland SE Australia. (Painter et al, 1995)
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
P. tenuirostris lives in low shrubland and tussock grassland with cracking clay soils. It lives in the deepest realms of the soil cavities and occasionally emerges at the surface . (Moss, 1988) Preferred habit is away from water in more open, less densely vegetated areas. (Read, 1987)
Habitat Regions: temperate
It has been estimated that less than 15% of individuals in wild populations survive to an age of 2 years (Read, 1995).
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 3 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 5.2 years.
P. tenuirostris is a rodent-like marsupial. It is small when compared to other Planigale spp. It has a flat skull that can be used for shoveling (Painter et al, 1995). The fur is brownish, but breeding males have fur discoloration (Read, 1987).
Range mass: 4 to 9 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.063 W.
Becaue P. tenuirostris spends so much time below the ground (where no larger species coud fit), it is well protected from predators. (Moss, 1988)
The female P. tenuirostris has 12 teats and a pouch. Estrus in females lasts 1 day and the estrus cycle is 33 days. In males, spermatogenesis occurs in July and aspermatogenesis occurs the following March. The breeding season coincides with increases in food availability during the spring and summer. (Read, 1984)
Breeding season: July to mid-January
Average number of offspring: 6.
Average gestation period: 19 days.
Average weaning age: 95 days.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); viviparous
Average gestation period: 19 days.
Average number of offspring: 6.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 240 days.
Young P. tenuirostris detach from the teats at 36 days. The eyes open at 51 days. and weaning occurs at 95 days after birth. (Read, 1985)
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care
The narrow-nosed planigale (Planigale tenuirostris) is a species of very small marsupial carnivore of the family Dasyuridae.
The narrow-nosed planigale was described by Ellis Le Geyt Troughton in 1928, separating it from the common planigale (P. maculata) with which it had previously been associated. The scientific name for the species means "slender-snouted flat-weasel".[3]
Planigales are small rodent-like marsupials no greater than 7.5 cm, and weighing less than 10 g.[4] The narrow-nosed planigale differs from other planigales in its more rufous colouring and smaller size – only the long-tailed planigale is smaller. It is an active hunter of various invertebrates,[5] and is known as a fearless and pugnacious predator.[3] Its flattened head is used as a wedge to prize apart grass stems and turn over leaves in the leaf litter. It will often attack prey larger than itself.
The narrow-nosed Planigale are generalist insectivores, able to thrive and with a diet that reflects the available prey of their environment.[6] Their diet mostly consists of arthropods including beetles, centipedes and spiders, but can also include reptiles such as small lizards.
The narrow-nosed Planigale prefers an open less densely vegetated area (Read, 1987).[6] They can often be found in tussock grassland and low shrubland with cracking clay soils so as to inhabit the soil cavities. (Moss, 1988)[7] Plant height has also been recorded as positively associated with an abundance of P. tenuirostrist.[6]
Unlike other Planigale species, the narrow-nosed Planigale is nocturnal in both summer and winter (Read, 1989)[8] spending only minimal bursts of activity. Research has recorded past short-term activity cycles as 1 hr 25 min in summer and 2 hr 56 min in winter (Read, 1989)[8] Narrow-nosed Planigale surface from the cracks to hunt during the night or stay within these cracks clinging to the vertical sides.[4]
Breeding season runs from July to Mid-January and coincides with food availability during Spring & Summer (Read, 1984). Females have 12 teats and a pouch. Females reach their sexual maturity (for reproduction) on average at 240 days. Females are only in heat (Estrus) for one day, on a 33-day cycle (Read, 1985). In males, the process of sperm production (spermatogenesis) begins in July and ends the following March(aspermatogenesis). The average gestation period lasts just 19 days. The young detach from the teats at a month after birth and mothers begin weaning the young at three months (Read, 1985)[9] In captivity females give birth to two litters with an average of six young annually,[10] but in the wild it is more likely only a single litter will be produced (Read 2008).[11]
Population densities tend to fluctuate from year to year, however, despite some declines in distribution, this species appears stable.[4]
There appear to be no major or widespread threats to the narrow-nosed Planigale species. Localised threats and population declines occur in the form of habitat conversion or destruction, particularly for agricultural use.[2]
As a result of its habitat (below ground) and hunting habits (within soil cracks), it is protected from most larger predatory species (Moss, 1988).
Research has postulated that fluctuations in rainfall affect the populations of Planigale gilesi and P. tenuirostris (Read, 1988),[7] however little other research has been done into this to confirm whether it is rainfall alone, or the byproduct effect on resources.
The narrow-nosed planigale is found in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory in a wide range of inland habitats.[5] It prefers areas with cracked clay soil.
The narrow-nosed planigale (Planigale tenuirostris) is a species of very small marsupial carnivore of the family Dasyuridae.
