Two new Australian mammal species just dropped – and they are very small

Sat, 16 Sep 2023 03:11:59 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/two-new-australian-mammal-species-just-dropped-and-they-are-very-small-210386>

"You probably know about the Tasmanian devil. You might even know about its
smaller, less-famous relative, the spotted-tailed quoll.

But these are far from the only meat-eating marsupials. Australia is home to a
suite of other carnivorous and insectivorous pouched mammals as well, some of
them the size of a mouse or smaller.

Tiniest of all are the planigales, some of which weigh less than a teaspoonful
of water. Despite their size, these fierce predators often take on prey as big
as themselves.

To date, there are four known species of planigale found across Australia. We
have recently discovered another two species, both inhabitants of the Pilbara
region of northwest Western Australia: the orange-headed Pilbara planigale
(Planigale kendricki) and the cracking-clay Pilbara planigale (P. tealei)."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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