Peramelidae

Short bandicoot ( Isoodon sp.)

• Australian bandicoots ( Peramelinae )
• Guinea - bandicoot ( Peroryctinae )

The authentics bandicoot ( Peramelidae ) are a marsupial family from the order of the bandicoot ( Peramelemorphia ). You live in Australia, New Guinea and some islands of the eastern Indonesia.

General

Actual bandicoots are small to medium-sized, ground-dwelling animals, which owe their name to their long, pointed snout. The hind legs are longer than the front legs, which leads to a hoppel ends of locomotion. Claws on the front legs are used for digging for food. They are strict solitary and mainly nocturnal. They eat both insects and small vertebrates, as well as plant material, so they are omnivores.

System

These animals can be divided into two subfamilies, which differ based on the shape of the skull and of the habitat:

• The Australian bandicoots ( Peramelinae ) live in rather dry habitats and have a flattened skull on. They comprise two genera, the short bandicoot ( Isoodon ) and the long bandicoot ( Perameles ).
• The Guinea - bandicoot ( Peroryctinae ) mainly live in rainforests and have a cylindrical head. This group includes twelve species in four genera.

The introduction of this taxon arose when it was found that Pig- and bilby, which were originally attributed to the Australian bandicoots, are more distantly related than the two above-mentioned groups with each other.