Today’s animal is the Bandicoot, a small animal in Australia that I didn’t even know existed. It is a marsupial, and there is eleven species of it. Despite being of a rodent’s appearance, it is thought to be closer to a rabbit. This is because of the Bandicoot’s large hind legs that it uses to hop, and the fact that a Bandicoot is about the size of a rabbit. Bandicoots average out to be (including tail) about fifty centimeters long. However, Bandicoot males are known to be twice as large as females.

The scientific categorisation of the bandicoot is Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Peramelemorphia, Peramelidae, Perameles. Bandicoots are omnivores, and will eat bugs, fruits, nuts, berries, seeds, eggs, and even small rodents that it finds. However, due to it’s small size, the bandicoot is preyed on by birds, foxes, snakes, wildcats, but mainly dingoes and pythons. Bandicoots have a lifespan of three to five years.

Bandicoot females will give birth to a liter of three-six in around twelve days after they become pregnant, one of the shortest pregnancy of any mammal. However, bandicoots are marsupials, meaning that there is a pouch on the mother’s belly where the babies are kept until they are strong enough to go out on their own.

Bandicoots are solitary animals, only coming together to mate. They are also nocturnal, meaning that they come out at night. In the day, they sleep in swamps,and thickets, where there are plenty of places to hide.

The reason for the endangerment of the bandicoot is that there has been deforestation, taking away from their habitat. Also, with the introduction of European settlers came cats, which preyed on the bandicoot as well. If deforestation stops, there is still hope for these creatures, but, sa of now, they are on the brink of disaster.

 

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