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Macrotis

April 18, 2024

"Bilby" redirects here. For other uses, see Bilby (disambiguation).

Macrotis is a genus of desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores known as bilbies or rabbit-bandicoots;[3] they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. The lesser bilby became extinct in the 1950s; the greater bilby survives but remains endangered. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species. The greater bilby is on average 55 cm (22 in) long, excluding the tail, which is usually around 29 cm (11 in) long. Its fur is usually grey or white; it has a long, pointy nose and very long ears, hence the reference of its nickname to rabbits.

Macrotis
Greater bilby
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Peramelemorphia
Family: Thylacomyidae
Bensley, 1903
Genus: Macrotis
Reid, 1837
Type species
Macrotis lagotis
Reid, 1837[1]
Species

Macrotis lagotis
† Macrotis leucura

Synonyms

Paragalia Gray, 1841
Peragale Lydekker, 1887
Phalacomys anon., 1854
Thalaconus Richardson, Dallas, Cobbold, Baird and White, 1862
Thylacomys Blyth, 1840[2]

Bilby at Featherdale Wildlife Park

Taxonomy edit

Macrotis means 'big-eared' (macro- + ōt- 'ear') in Greek, referring to the animal's large, long ears.[4] The genus name was first proposed as a subgeneric classification, which after a century of taxonomic confusion was eventually stabilised as the accepted name in a 1932 revision by Ellis Troughton. In reviewing the systematic arrangement of the genus, Troughton recognised three species names, including one highly variable population with six subspecies.[5]

The family's current name Thylacomyidae is derived from an invalid synonym Thylacomys, meaning 'pouched mouse', from the Ancient Greek thýlakos (θύλακος, 'pouch, sack') and mys (μῦς, 'mouse, muscle'),[3] sometimes misspelt Thalacomys.[6][7]

The term bilby is a loanword from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales, meaning long-nosed rat. It is known as dalgite in Western Australia, and in South Australia, pinkie is sometimes used.[8] The Wiradjuri of New South Wales also call it "bilby".[9] Gerard Krefft recorded the name Jacko used by the peoples of the lower Darling in 1864, emended to Jecko in 1866 along with Wuirrapur from the peoples at the lower Murray River.[5]

Classification edit

See also: List of peramelemorphs

The placement of the population within taxonomic classification has changed in recent years. Vaughan (1978)[full citation needed] and Groves and Flannery (1990)[full citation needed] both placed this family[which?] within the family Peramelidae. Kirsch et al. (1997)[full citation needed] found them to be distinct from the species in Peroryctidae (which is now a subfamily in Peramelidae). McKenna and Bell (1997)[full citation needed] also placed it in Peramelidae, but as the sister of Chaeropus in the subfamily Chaeropodinae.[10]

Here is a summary of the treatment as a peramelemorph family:

  • Thylacomyidae
  • Genus Macrotis

Fossil taxa allied to the family are:

  • Genus †Ischnodon
  • †Ischnodon australis[11]

Description edit

Bilbies have the characteristic long bandicoot muzzle and very big ears that radiate heat. They are about 29–55 cm (11–22 in) long. Compared to bandicoots, they have a longer tail, bigger ears, and softer, silky fur. The size of their ears allows them to have better hearing.[13][14] They are nocturnal omnivores that do not need to drink water, as they obtain their moisture from food, which includes insects and their larvae, seeds, spiders, bulbs, fruit, fungi, and very small animals. Most food is found by digging or scratching in the soil, and using their very long tongues.

Unlike bandicoots, they are excellent burrowers and build extensive tunnel systems with their strong forelimbs and well-developed claws. A bilby typically makes a number of burrows within its home range, up to about a dozen, and moves between them, using them for shelter both from predators and the heat of the day. The female bilby's pouch faces backwards, which prevents the pouch from getting filled with dirt while she is digging.

Bilbies have a gestation of about 12–14 days, one of the shortest among mammals.[15]

The appearance of the bilby has been alluded to as "Australia’s answer to the Easter rabbit".[16]

Conservation edit

Bilbies are slowly becoming endangered because of habitat loss and change, and competition with other animals. There is a national recovery plan being developed for saving them. This program includes captive breeding, monitoring populations, and reestablishing bilbies where they once lived. There have been reasonably successful moves to popularise the bilby as a native alternative to the Easter Bunny by selling chocolate Easter Bilbies (sometimes with a portion of the profits going to bilby protection and research). Reintroduction efforts have begun, with a successful reintroduction into the Arid Recovery Reserve in South Australia in 2000,[17][18] and a reintroduction into Currawinya National Park in Queensland, where six bilbies were released into a predator-proof enclosure in April 2019.[19]

Successful reintroductions have also occurred on the Peron Peninsula in Western Australia as a part of[20] the Western Shield program, and at other conservation lands, including islands and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's[21] Scotia[22] and Yookamurra Sanctuaries.[23] There is a highly successful bilby breeding program at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre[24] near Perth, Western Australia.

Evolution edit

The bilby lineage extends back 15 million years.[25] In 2014 scientists found part of a 15-million-year-old fossilised jaw of a bilby which had shorter teeth that were probably used for eating forest fruit. Prior to this discovery, the oldest bilby fossil on record was 5 million years old. Modern bilbies have evolved to have long teeth used to dig holes in the desert to eat worms and insects.

It is thought the bilby diverged from its closest relative, an originally-carnivorous bandicoot, 20 million years ago.[26]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Reid, J. (1837). "Description of a new species of the genus Perameles (P. lagotis)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1836: 129–131. from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  2. ^ Wilson & Reeder. "Genus Macrotis". Mammal Species of the World. from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Thylacomys". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Unabridged (subscription required)
  4. ^ Turner, Jim (2004). Mammals of Australia. Pensoft Publishers. p. 39. ISBN 978-954-642-198-2.
  5. ^ a b Troughton, E. (1932). "A revision of the rabbit-bandicoots. Family Peramelidae, genus Macrotis". The Australian Zoologist. 7: 219–236. from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  6. ^ . Nomenclator Zoologicus Record. The Marine Biological Laboratory. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2014. err. pro Thyl- Owen 1838
  7. ^ Waite, Edgar R. (1900). "The generic name Thylacomys". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 7. 5 (26): 222–223. doi:10.1080/00222930008678272. from the original on 14 July 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  8. ^ . Australian Words. Australian National Dictionary Centre. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  9. ^ Yokose, Hiroyuki (2001). (PDF). pp. 169–180. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2006.
  10. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). "Macrotis". In 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. 38. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  11. ^ Stirton, R.A., 1955. Late tertiary marsupials from South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum 11, 247–268.
  12. ^ Travouillon, K.J.; Hand, S. J.; Archer, M.; Black, K. H. (2014). "Earliest modern bandicoot and bilby (Marsupialia, Peramelidae and Thylacomyidae) from the Miocene of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (2): 375–382. Bibcode:2014JVPal..34..375T. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.799071. S2CID 85622058.
  13. ^ "Greater bilby". Department of Environment and Science – Queensland Government. 8 August 2003. from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  14. ^ . Environmental Protection Agency/Queensland Park and Wildlife Service. 24 November 2005. Archived from the original on 23 March 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  15. ^ Gordon, Greg (1984). "Bandicoots And Bilbies". In Macdonald, D. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File. pp. 846–849. ISBN 978-0-87196-871-5.
  16. ^ University of Queensland (17 March 2014). "Palaeontologists unearth rare 15-million-year-old bilby". UQ News. from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  17. ^ Moseby K. E. and O'Donnell E. O. (2003) Reintroduction of the greater bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid) (Marsupialia: Thylacomyidae), to northern South Australia: survival, ecology and notes on reintroduction protocols 12 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine Wildlife Research 30, 15–27.
  18. ^ "Greater Bilby". aridrecovery.org.au. from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  19. ^ Caldwell, Felicity (18 April 2019). "Bilbies hop into their new home just in time for Easter". Brisbane Times. from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  20. ^ . NatureBase. Department of Environment and Conservation. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  21. ^ . Awc.org.au. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  22. ^ "Australian Wildlife Conservancy Scotia Sanctuary". from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  23. ^ "Australian Wildlife Conservancy Yookamurra Sanctuary". from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  24. ^ . Kanyanawildlife.org.au. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  25. ^ Johnson, Stephen (19 March 2014). "15-million-year-old bilby fossil found in Qld". Australian Geographic. from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  26. ^ Young, Emma (7 September 2010). "Carnivorous bilby fossil unearthed". Australian Geographic. from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2021.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macrotis.
 
Look up bilby or Macrotis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • ARKive –

April 18, 2024
macrotis, bilby, redirects, here, other, uses, bilby, disambiguation, genus, desert, dwelling, marsupial, omnivores, known, bilbies, rabbit, bandicoots, they, members, order, peramelemorphia, time, european, colonisation, australia, there, were, species, lesse. Bilby redirects here For other uses see Bilby disambiguation Macrotis is a genus of desert dwelling marsupial omnivores known as bilbies or rabbit bandicoots 3 they are members of the order Peramelemorphia At the time of European colonisation of Australia there were two species The lesser bilby became extinct in the 1950s the greater bilby survives but remains endangered It is currently listed as a vulnerable species The greater bilby is on average 55 cm 22 in long excluding the tail which is usually around 29 cm 11 in long Its fur is usually grey or white it has a long pointy nose and very long ears hence the reference of its nickname to rabbits Macrotis Greater bilby Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Infraclass Marsupialia Order Peramelemorphia Family ThylacomyidaeBensley 1903 Genus MacrotisReid 1837 Type species Macrotis lagotisReid 1837 1 Species Macrotis lagotis Macrotis leucura Synonyms Paragalia Gray 1841 Peragale Lydekker 1887 Phalacomys anon 1854 Thalaconus Richardson Dallas Cobbold Baird and White 1862 Thylacomys Blyth 1840 2 Bilby at Featherdale Wildlife Park Contents 1 Taxonomy 1 1 Classification 2 Description 3 Conservation 4 Evolution 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksTaxonomy editMacrotis means big eared macro ōt ear in Greek referring to the animal s large long ears 4 The genus name was first proposed as a subgeneric classification which after a century of taxonomic confusion was eventually stabilised as the accepted name in a 1932 revision by Ellis Troughton In reviewing the systematic arrangement of the genus Troughton recognised three species names including one highly variable population with six subspecies 5 The family s current name Thylacomyidae is derived from an invalid synonym Thylacomys meaning pouched mouse from the Ancient Greek thylakos 8ylakos pouch sack and mys mῦs mouse muscle 3 sometimes misspelt Thalacomys 6 7 The term bilby is a loanword from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales meaning long nosed rat It is known as dalgite in Western Australia and in South Australia pinkie is sometimes used 8 The Wiradjuri of New South Wales also call it bilby 9 Gerard Krefft recorded the name Jacko used by the peoples of the lower Darling in 1864 emended to Jecko in 1866 along with Wuirrapur from the peoples at the lower Murray River 5 Classification edit See also List of peramelemorphs The placement of the population within taxonomic classification has changed in recent years Vaughan 1978 full citation needed and Groves and Flannery 1990 full citation needed both placed this family which within the family Peramelidae Kirsch et al 1997 full citation needed found them to be distinct from the species in Peroryctidae which is now a subfamily in Peramelidae McKenna and Bell 1997 full citation needed also placed it in Peramelidae but as the sister of Chaeropus in the subfamily Chaeropodinae 10 Here is a summary of the treatment as a peramelemorph family Peramelemorphia ThylacomyidaeGenus MacrotisMacrotis lagotis extant Macrotis leucura extinct dd Chaeropodidae pig footed bandicoots extinct Peramelidae genera known as bandicoots extant and extinct dd Fossil taxa allied to the family are Genus Ischnodon Ischnodon australis 11 Genus Liyamayi Liyamayi dayi 12 Description editBilbies have the characteristic long bandicoot muzzle and very big ears that radiate heat They are about 29 55 cm 11 22 in long Compared to bandicoots they have a longer tail bigger ears and softer silky fur The size of their ears allows them to have better hearing 13 14 They are nocturnal omnivores that do not need to drink water as they obtain their moisture from food which includes insects and their larvae seeds spiders bulbs fruit fungi and very small animals Most food is found by digging or scratching in the soil and using their very long tongues Unlike bandicoots they are excellent burrowers and build extensive tunnel systems with their strong forelimbs and well developed claws A bilby typically makes a number of burrows within its home range up to about a dozen and moves between them using them for shelter both from predators and the heat of the day The female bilby s pouch faces backwards which prevents the pouch from getting filled with dirt while she is digging Bilbies have a gestation of about 12 14 days one of the shortest among mammals 15 The appearance of the bilby has been alluded to as Australia s answer to the Easter rabbit 16 Conservation editBilbies are slowly becoming endangered because of habitat loss and change and competition with other animals There is a national recovery plan being developed for saving them This program includes captive breeding monitoring populations and reestablishing bilbies where they once lived There have been reasonably successful moves to popularise the bilby as a native alternative to the Easter Bunny by selling chocolate Easter Bilbies sometimes with a portion of the profits going to bilby protection and research Reintroduction efforts have begun with a successful reintroduction into the Arid Recovery Reserve in South Australia in 2000 17 18 and a reintroduction into Currawinya National Park in Queensland where six bilbies were released into a predator proof enclosure in April 2019 19 Successful reintroductions have also occurred on the Peron Peninsula in Western Australia as a part of 20 the Western Shield program and at other conservation lands including islands and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy s 21 Scotia 22 and Yookamurra Sanctuaries 23 There is a highly successful bilby breeding program at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre 24 near Perth Western Australia Evolution editThe bilby lineage extends back 15 million years 25 In 2014 scientists found part of a 15 million year old fossilised jaw of a bilby which had shorter teeth that were probably used for eating forest fruit Prior to this discovery the oldest bilby fossil on record was 5 million years old Modern bilbies have evolved to have long teeth used to dig holes in the desert to eat worms and insects It is thought the bilby diverged from its closest relative an originally carnivorous bandicoot 20 million years ago 26 See also editAustralian fauna Bilby Film Animated short made by DreamWorks AnimationReferences edit Reid J 1837 Description of a new species of the genus Perameles P lagotis Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836 129 131 Archived from the original on 14 July 2021 Retrieved 27 July 2019 Wilson amp Reeder Genus Macrotis Mammal Species of the World Archived from the original on 27 August 2017 Retrieved 14 August 2014 a b Thylacomys Merriam Webster com Dictionary Unabridged subscription required Turner Jim 2004 Mammals of Australia Pensoft Publishers p 39 ISBN 978 954 642 198 2 a b Troughton E 1932 A revision of the rabbit bandicoots Family Peramelidae genus Macrotis The Australian Zoologist 7 219 236 Archived from the original on 28 July 2019 Retrieved 28 July 2019 Thalacomys Nomenclator Zoologicus Record The Marine Biological Laboratory Archived from the original on 1 January 2015 Retrieved 25 September 2014 err pro Thyl Owen 1838 Waite Edgar R 1900 The generic name Thylacomys Annals and Magazine of Natural History Series 7 5 26 222 223 doi 10 1080 00222930008678272 Archived from the original on 14 July 2021 Retrieved 27 June 2019 bilby Australian Words Australian National Dictionary Centre Archived from the original on 18 February 2007 Retrieved 22 April 2014 Yokose Hiroyuki 2001 Aboriginal Words in Australian English PDF pp 169 180 Archived from the original PDF on 28 September 2006 Groves C P 2005 Macrotis In 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 38 ISBN 0 801 88221 4 OCLC 62265494 Stirton R A 1955 Late tertiary marsupials from South Australia Records of the South Australian Museum 11 247 268 Travouillon K J Hand S J Archer M Black K H 2014 Earliest modern bandicoot and bilby Marsupialia Peramelidae and Thylacomyidae from the Miocene of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area northwestern Queensland Australia Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 2 375 382 Bibcode 2014JVPal 34 375T doi 10 1080 02724634 2013 799071 S2CID 85622058 Greater bilby Department of Environment and Science Queensland Government 8 August 2003 Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 23 April 2019 Bilby Australia s Easter bunny Environmental Protection Agency Queensland Park and Wildlife Service 24 November 2005 Archived from the original on 23 March 2006 Retrieved 23 April 2019 Gordon Greg 1984 Bandicoots And Bilbies In Macdonald D ed The Encyclopedia of Mammals New York Facts on File pp 846 849 ISBN 978 0 87196 871 5 University of Queensland 17 March 2014 Palaeontologists unearth rare 15 million year old bilby UQ News Archived from the original on 29 July 2019 Retrieved 29 July 2019 Moseby K E and O Donnell E O 2003 Reintroduction of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis Reid Marsupialia Thylacomyidae to northern South Australia survival ecology and notes on reintroduction protocols Archived 12 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine Wildlife Research 30 15 27 Greater Bilby aridrecovery org au Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 23 April 2019 Caldwell Felicity 18 April 2019 Bilbies hop into their new home just in time for Easter Brisbane Times Archived from the original on 23 April 2019 Retrieved 23 April 2019 Project Eden NatureBase Department of Environment and Conservation Archived from the original on 31 August 2007 Retrieved 22 April 2014 Australian Wildlife Conservancy Awc org au Archived from the original on 23 May 2017 Retrieved 22 April 2014 Australian Wildlife Conservancy Scotia Sanctuary Archived from the original on 30 May 2014 Retrieved 2 June 2014 Australian Wildlife Conservancy Yookamurra Sanctuary Archived from the original on 30 May 2014 Retrieved 2 June 2014 Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre Inc Kanyanawildlife org au Archived from the original on 29 June 2009 Retrieved 22 April 2014 Johnson Stephen 19 March 2014 15 million year old bilby fossil found in Qld Australian Geographic Archived from the original on 28 January 2021 Retrieved 14 July 2021 Young Emma 7 September 2010 Carnivorous bilby fossil unearthed Australian Geographic Archived from the original on 18 June 2018 Retrieved 14 July 2021 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macrotis nbsp Look up bilby or Macrotis in Wiktionary the free dictionary ARKive images and movies of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Macrotis amp oldid 1178812946, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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