Northern pig-footed bandicoot
| Northern pig-footed bandicoot | |
|---|---|
| |
Extinct (1950s)
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Peramelemorphia |
| Family: | †Chaeropodidae |
| Genus: | †Chaeropus |
| Species: | †C. yirratji
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Chaeropus yirratji Travouillon et al. 2019
| |
The northern pig-footed bandicoot (Chaeropus yirratji) was a small species of extinct herbivorous Australian marsupial in the genus Chaeropus, the pig-footed bandicoots. It has been believed to be extinct since the mid-20th century; the last confirmed observation was a specimen collected near Alice Springs in 1901, but reports from local Aborigines indicate that it may have survived in the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts as late as the 1950s.[1][2][3]
It very closely resembled and was formerly considered conspecific with the related southern pig-footed bandicoot, but unlike C. ecaudatus, C. yirratji was restricted to grassland habitats in the deserts of central and western Australia. It also had a longer tail and hind feet, a different dentition, fewer holes on its palate, and a distinct coat coloration. It had at least two different color morphs; a light morph and a dark morph. This species likely went extinct due to the introduction of invasive red foxes and feral cats, as well as habitat degradation for livestock.[1][3][4]
References
- ^ a b "New species of extinct pig-footed bandicoot described from Australia". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
- ^ Francis Harper (1945). Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World. New York, American Committee for International Wild Life Protection.
- ^ a b "New species of extinct pig-footed bandicoot described from Australia". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
- S2CID 92165477.