Fawn Antechinus
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| Fawn Antechinus[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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| Antechinus bellus (Thomas, 1904) |
The Fawn Antechinus (Antechinus bellus) is a species of small carnivorous marsupial found in northern Australia. It is the only antechinus to be found in the Northern Territory and has a patchy, restricted range.
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[edit] Taxonomy
The Fawn Antechinus was first described in 1904 by the renowned biologist Oldfield Thomas, who gave it the species name bellus, meaning beautiful.[3] It has never been confused with other species.
The Fawn Antechinus is a member of the family Dasyuridae and of the genus Antechinus (meaning "hedgehog-equivalent"), which has nine other members.
[edit] Description
The Fawn Antechinus is unique among antechinuses, being considerably paler than many of its relatives. It is a light grey colour and is distinguished from the only other similar species in the area where it lives (the Sandstone Dibbler and the Red-cheeked Dunnart) by its larger size and paler colouring. It is insectivorous and, like many of its relatives, all of the males die after the breeding season .[4]
The Fawn Antechinus has a breeding season during August. Young are born in September-October in litters of up to ten, and are usually weaned by January.[4]
[edit] Distribution and habitat
The Fawn Antechinus is found in the Top End of the Northern Territory, where it is fairly common.[3] It inhabits tall, fairly open forest in the tropics.
[edit] References
- ^ Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 29. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group (1996). Antechinus bellus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
- ^ a b Calaby, J.H. (1995), “Fawn Antechinus”, in Strahan, Ronald, The Mammals of Australia, Reed Books, pp. 85-86
- ^ a b Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, 54.
