The numbat is a small, insect-eating marsupial native to Western Australia, once found across a much wider range of the Australian mainland, distinguished by its striking reddish-brown coat marked with several white stripes across the back and a long, bushy tail. Unlike most marsupials, it is active during the day, spending much of its time searching for termites, which make up the vast majority of its diet, using an acute sense of smell and a long, narrow tongue to extract them from tunnels in wood and soil. Numbats do not dig their own burrows for shelter and instead rely on hollow logs and, historically, burrows for refuge from predators such as foxes and cats, introduced species that have contributed heavily to its decline. Confined to a small fraction of its former range, the numbat is classified as endangered.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Relationship to PeopleInvasive or Introduced Species 2 Living or ExtinctDerived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status. Identification
Distinguishing AppearanceSmall, distinctively striped marsupial 35 to 45 centimetres long including the tail, with a finely pointed muzzle, a bushy tail, and a conspicuous black stripe running from the muzzle through the eye; coat color ranges from soft grey to reddish brown with white stripes crossing the hindquarters. 1 Comparison
CITES Appendix Scientific Name Conservation StatusSupersedes the article's own older lead-section framing of the numbat as simply endangered; the dedicated Conservation status section names the current IUCN category. Partially Attested
Population EstimateHistoric low count (late 1970s), recorded as an upper bound; no current total population figure was found in this source in this pass. Connections
Child Taxon Of
In Biome
Source Numbat (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Numbat (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first sentence
The numbat (; binomen: Myrmecobius fasciatus), also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial.
Conservation status section, IUCN status sentence
IUCN Red List status was moved to "near threatened" after populations have risen and stabilized.
Conservation status section, historical population sentence
By the late 1970s, the population was well under 1,000 individuals, concentrated in two small areas not far from Perth, at protected areas of the Dryandra forest and at Perup.
Description section, first sentence
The numbat is a small, distinctively-striped animal between 35 and 45 centimetres (14 and 18 in) long, including the tail, with a finely pointed muzzle and a prominent, bushy tail about the same length as its body.
In Biome: Grassland, Habitat
Today, numbats are naturally found only in areas of eucalypt forest, but they were once more widespread in other types of semiarid woodland, spinifex grassland, and in terrain dominated by sand dune.
View the Source 2. Wikipedia: Numbat
diet-classification (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
The numbat (; binomen: Myrmecobius fasciatus), also known as the noombat or walpurti, is an insectivorous marsupial.
human-interaction (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
Numbats were recently re-introduced to fenced reserves in South Australia and New South Wales.
View the Source3. Numbat (Wikipedia)
4. GBIF Species API
5. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Myrmecobius fasciatus (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyConservation Status: CITESQuote, Conservation Status: CITES
CITES No special status
Wikidata: Numbat
Wikidata Q242419, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: MammaliaView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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