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Common long-nosed bandicoot - PERAMELES NASUTA
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Bandicoot": A Telugu word in which "bandi" means "pig." "Coot" comes from an unknown "kokku," possibly the sound the bandicoot emits. Bandicoots look more like rats than pigs, but the Latin name compares the animal to a badger.
Location: Eastern coastal Australia.
Habitat: Terrestrial, preferring rain and eucalypt forests, and woodland.
Description: The bandicoot is a small, slender weasel-like marsupial with a long, tapered snout. It has pointed ears, a short tail, and the second and third toes are united on the back feet. The fur is coarse and thin, gray-brown in color on the back and lighter on the belly. Its head and body length is between 12"to 16", and it weighs about 1 lb.
Behavior: The bandicoot is nocturnal and strictly terrestrial. The Common long-nosed bandicoot is one of 15 species in the Australian Region. It eats insects, grubs, and earthworms, which it finds by scratching through ground vegetation or by digging shallow holes in the soil. It is solitary and often builds a nest by piling humus, twigs, or leaves under the shelter of a thick bush. Though not itself a burrowing animal, the bandicoot will gladly nest in abandoned rabbit tunnels, as well as in hollow logs or among rocks.
Reproduction: The bandicoot breeds throughout the year, with a gestation of about twelve days. As a rule there are no more than four young per litter, which is half the number of the mother's teats. But a second litter is often born before the first litter is weaned at approximately 60 days of age, so there is room for the newcomers to attach themselves to the vacant teats. The bandicoot has a well-developed pouch, but unlike the kangaroo, it opens from the back in all species of bandicoots.
Go to the Marsupials Page, to get a general discussion of these animals.
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