Southern brown bandicoot

The southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. It is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar word kwernt).

Description

The fur of this bandicoot is coarse and coloured a dark greyish to yellowish brown, with the undersides a creamy-white. It has short, round ears.

The southern brown bandicoot shows some sexual dimorphism, with females being slightly smaller than males. The average male length is 330 mm (13 in), with a tail of 120 mm (4.7 in). Females are about 30 mm (1.2 in) shorter than the male, with a 10 mm (0.39 in) shorter tail. Males weigh an average of 0.9 kg (2.0 lb), females 0.7 kg (1.5 lb).

Life history

Reproduction is closely linked to local rainfall pattern, and many brown bandicoots breed all year around. A litter of up to five young is born after an eleven-day gestation period, and is weaned at two months.

Conservation status

While some authorities list as many as five subspecies (I. o. fusciventer, I. o. obesulus, I. o. peninsulae, I. o. affinus, I. o. nauticus), the most recent edition of "Mammal Species of the World" only lists I. o. nauticus as a valid subspecies, aside from the nominate; the others are given synonym status.