The northern pig-footed bandicoot (Chaeropus yirratji) was a small species of extinct herbivorous Australian marsupial in the genus Chaeropus, the pig-footed bandicoots. It has been believed to be extinct since the mid-20th century; the last confirmed observation was a specimen collected near Alice Springs in 1901, but reports from local Aborigines indicate that it may have survived in the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts as late as the 1950s.[1][2][3]
| Northern pig-footed bandicoot | |
|---|---|
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Extinct (1950s)
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Peramelemorphia |
| Family: | †Chaeropodidae |
| Genus: | †Chaeropus |
| Species: | †C. yirratji
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| Binomial name | |
| †Chaeropus yirratji Travouillon et al. 2019
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It very closely resembled and was formerly considered conspecific with the related southern pig-footed bandicoot, but unlike C. ecaudatus, C. yirratji was restricted to grassland habitats in the deserts of central and western Australia. It also had a longer tail and hind feet, a different dentition, fewer holes on its palate, and a distinct coat coloration. It had at least two different color morphs; a light morph and a dark morph. This species likely went extinct due to the introduction of invasive red foxes and feral cats, as well as habitat degradation for livestock.[1][3][4]
References
edit- ^ a b "New species of extinct pig-footed bandicoot described from Australia". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
- ^ Francis Harper (1945). Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World. New York, American Committee for International Wild Life Protection.
- ^ a b "New species of extinct pig-footed bandicoot described from Australia". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
- ^ Louys, Julien; Cramb, Jonathan; Price, Gilbert J.; Stemmer, David; Brewer, Philippa; Brace, Selina; Miguez, Roberto Portela; Simões, Bruno F.; Travouillon, Kenny J. (2019-03-13). "Hidden in plain sight: reassessment of the pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus (Peramelemorphia, Chaeropodidae), with a description of a new species from central australia, and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution". Zootaxa. 4566 (1): zootaxa.4566.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4566.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 31716448. S2CID 92165477.