Long-nosed Potoroo

Scientific name: Potorous tridactylus
Long-nosed Potoroo Click to enlarge image
Long-nosed Potoroo Image: unknown
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Fast Facts

  • Classification
    Genus
    Potorous
    Species
    tridactylus
    Family
    Potoroidae
    Order
    Diprotodontia
    Class
    Mammalia
    Phylum
    Chordata
  • Size Range
    Up to 41 cm

Reddish-brown to grey colouration; nose is long and tapering; naked patch of skin on the snout.

Identification

Long-nosed Potoroos can vary from reddish-brown to grey across their distribution, but all have paler fur below. Nose is long and tapering, with a naked patch of skin extending onto the snout from the nose. The length of the hind foot is shorter than the length of the snout. The tail is sparsely-furred and sometimes has a white tip (this is more common in the southern parts of its range).

Habitat

Wet and dry sclerophyll forest, coastal heath and coastal woodland, where thick understorey is present.

Distribution

Long-nosed Potoroos are distributed in highly-fragmented populations along the east coast of Australia from southern Queensland, through New South Wales, to western Victoria, and throughout much of Tasmania.

Feeding and diet

Diet primarily consists of fungi (truffles and mushrooms), but arthropods, seeds, and plant material are also consumed.

Other behaviours and adaptations

Generally a solitary species, Long-nosed Potoroo use areas of dense understorey for shelter, and more open areas to forage.

Breeding behaviours

Continuous breeders, with females sexually mature around 1 year of age. Females raise one young per pregnancy, but exhibit embryonic diapause and can have 3-4 young per year.

Predators

Populations have declined since European settlement; predation by the red fox and domestic cat, as well as the loss of suitable habitat for agriculture, are the main causes of these declines. Populations tend to be at higher, more natural levels in Tasmania due to the historic absence of foxes.

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