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词条 Macrotis
释义

  1. Etymology

  2. Description

  3. Conservation

  4. Gallery

  5. Classification

  6. Evolution

      Species  

  7. 2014 Royal Tour

  8. See also

  9. References

  10. External links

{{redirect|Bilby}}{{lead too short|date=May 2016}}{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}{{Italic title}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}{{Automatic Taxobox
| name = Bilby
| image = Easter Bilby.jpg
| image_caption = Greater bilby at Monarto Zoo
| parent_authority = Bensley, 1903
| taxon = Macrotis
| authority = Reid, 1837
| type_species = Perameles lagotis
| type_species_authority = Reid, 1837
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =Macrotis lagotis

Macrotis leucura

Ischnodon australis

Liyamayi dayi


| synonyms =Paragalia {{small|Gray, 1841}}
Peragale {{small|Lydekker, 1887}}
Phalacomys {{small|anon., 1854}}
Thalaconus {{small|Richardson, Dallas, Cobbold, Baird and White, 1862}}
Thylacomys {{small|Blyth, 1840}}[1]
}}

Bilbies, or rabbit-bandicoots,[2] are desert-dwelling marsupial omnivores; they are members of the order Peramelemorphia. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, there were two species. The lesser bilby became extinct in the 1950s; the greater bilby survives but remains endangered. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species. It is on average {{convert|55|cm|abbr=on}} long, excluding the tail, which is usually around {{convert|29|cm|abbr=on}} long. Its fur is usually grey or white, it has a long pointy nose and very long ears, hence earning its nick-name, the rabbit-eared bandicoot.

Etymology

Macrotis means ‘big-eared’ ({{transl|grc|macro-}} + {{transl|grc|ōt-}} ‘ear’) in Greek, referring to the animal's large, long ears.[3]

The family's current name Thylacomyidae is derived from an invalid synonym Thylacomys, meaning 'pouched mouse', from the Ancient Greek {{transl|grc|thýlakos}} ({{lang|grc|θύλακος}}, 'pouch, sack') and {{transl|grc|mys}} ({{lang|grc|μῦς}}, 'mouse, muscle'),[2] sometimes misspelt Thalacomys.[4][5]

The term bilby is a loanword from the Yuwaalaraay Aboriginal language of northern New South Wales, meaning long-nosed rat. It is known as dalgite in Western Australia, and the nickname pinkie is sometimes used in South Australia.[6] The Wiradjuri of New South Wales also call it "bilby".[7]

Description

Bilbies have the characteristic long bandicoot muzzle and very big ears that radiate heat. They are about {{convert|29–55|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. Compared to bandicoots, they have a longer tail, bigger ears, and softer, silky fur. The size of their ears allows them to have better hearing.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} They are nocturnal omnivores that do not need to drink water, as they obtain their moisture from food, which includes insects and their larvae, seeds, spiders, bulbs, fruit, fungi, and very small animals. Most food is found by digging or scratching in the soil, and using their very long tongues.

Unlike bandicoots, they are excellent burrowers and build extensive tunnel systems with their strong forelimbs and well-developed claws. A bilby typically makes a number of burrows within its home range, up to about a dozen, and moves between them, using them for shelter both from predators and the heat of the day. The female bilby's pouch faces backwards, which prevents the pouch from getting filled with dirt while she is digging.

Bilbies have a short gestation of about 12–14 days, one of the shortest among mammals.[8]

Conservation

Bilbies are slowly becoming endangered because of habitat loss and change, and competition with other animals. There is a national recovery plan being developed for saving them. This program includes captive breeding, monitoring populations, and reestablishing bilbies where they once lived. There have been reasonably successful moves to popularise the bilby as a native alternative to the Easter Bunny by selling chocolate Easter Bilbies (sometimes with a portion of the profits going to bilby protection and research). Reintroduction efforts have begun, with a successful reintroduction into the Arid Recovery Reserve in South Australia in 2000,[9] and plans are underway for a reintroduction into Currawinya National Park in Queensland,[10] where there was success with six bilbies released into the feral-free sanctuary in early February 2006.

Successful reintroductions have also occurred on the Peron Peninsula in Western Australia as a part of[11] Western Shield. Successful reintroductions have also occurred on other conservation lands, including islands and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy's[12] Scotia[13] and Yookamurra Sanctuaries.[14] There is a highly successful bilby breeding program at Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre[15] near Perth, Western Australia.

Gallery

Classification

The placement of bilbies within the taxonomic classification has changed in recent years. Vaughan (1978){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} and Groves and Flannery (1990){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} both placed this family{{which|date=December 2015}} within the family Peramelidae. Kirsch et al. (1997){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} found them to be distinct from the species in Peroryctidae (which is now a subfamily in Peramelidae). McKenna and Bell (1997){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} also placed it in Peramelidae, but as the sister of Chaeropus in the subfamily Chaeropodinae.[16]

Evolution

The bilby lineage extends back 15 million years.[17] In 2014 scientists found part of a 15-million-year-old fossilised jaw of a bilby which had shorter teeth that were probably used for eating forest fruit. Prior to this discovery, the oldest bilby fossil on record was 5 million years old. Modern bilbies have evolved to have long teeth used to dig holes in the desert to eat worms and insects.

It is thought the bilby diverged from its closest relative, an originally-carnivorous bandicoot, 20 million years ago.[18]

Species

  • Genus Macrotis
    • Greater bilby, M. lagotis
    • Lesser bilby, †M. leucura
  • Genus †Ischnodon
    • Ischnodon australis[19]
  • Genus †Liyamayi
    • Liyamayi dayi[20]

2014 Royal Tour

On 20 April 2014, nine-month old Prince George of Cambridge visited the bilby enclosure at Taronga Zoo, Sydney, which was named in his honour when he was born.[21]

See also

  • Australian fauna
  • Boj (TV series), animated cartoon featuring a bilby as a character

References

1. ^{{cite web|author1=Wilson & Reeder|title=Genus Macrotis|url=http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp?id=10900003|website=Mammal Species of the World}}
2. ^{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Thylacomys}} Unabridged {{paywall}}
3. ^{{cite book|last=Turner|first=Jim|title=Mammals of Australia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QHxFAQAAIAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Pensoft Publishers|isbn=978-954-642-198-2|page=39}}
4. ^{{cite web|title=Thalacomys|url=http://uio.mbl.edu/NZ/detail.php?uid=197713&d=1|website=Nomenclator Zoologicus Record|publisher=The Marine Biological Laboratory|quote=err. pro Thyl- Owen 1838|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101082008/http://uio.mbl.edu/NZ/detail.php?uid=197713&d=1|archive-date=1 January 2015|dead-url=yes|df=dmy-all}}
5. ^{{cite journal|last1=Waite|first1=Edgar R.|title=The generic name Thylacomys|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|series=Series 7| date=1900|volume=5|issue=26|pages=222–223 |doi=10.1080/00222930008678272}}
6. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aewords/aewords_ab.php |title=Home - Australian National Dictionary Centre |publisher=ANU |date= |accessdate=2014-04-22 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218125222/http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aewords/aewords_ab.php |archivedate=18 February 2007 |df= }}
7. ^  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928232122/http://www.kasei.ac.jp/library/kiyou/2001/13.YOKOSE.pdf |date=28 September 2006 }}
8. ^{{cite book |editor=Macdonald, D.|author= Gordon, Greg|year=1984 |title= The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher= Facts on File|location=New York|pages= 846–849|isbn= 978-0-87196-871-5}}
9. ^Moseby K. E. and O'Donnell E. O. (2003) Reintroduction of the greater bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid) (Marsupialia: Thylacomyidae), to northern South Australia: survival, ecology and notes on reintroduction protocols Wildlife Research 30, 15-27.
10. ^Queensland Government (2004) Save The Bilby Appeal {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024181911/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/about_the_epa/media_room/media_statements/fact_sheets/save_the_bilbies/ |date=24 October 2007 }}
11. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.naturebase.net/content/view/822/824/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831123012/http://www.naturebase.net/content/view/822/824/ |dead-url=yes |archive-date=2007-08-31 |title=Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation 'Project Eden' |publisher=Naturebase.net |date= |accessdate=2014-04-22 }}
12. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.awc.org.au |title=Australian Wildlife Conservancy |publisher=Awc.org.au |date= |accessdate=2014-04-22}}
13. ^Australian Wildlife Conservancy Scotia Sanctuary
14. ^Australian Wildlife Conservancy Yookamurra Sanctuary
15. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.kanyanawildlife.org.au/ |title=Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (Inc.) |publisher=Kanyanawildlife.org.au |date= |accessdate=2014-04-22}}
16. ^{{MSW3 Groves|pages=38}}
17. ^15-million-year-old bilby fossil found in Qld, Australian Geographic.
18. ^Carnivorous bilby fossil unearthed, Australian Geographic.
19. ^Stirton, R.A., 1955. Late tertiary marsupials from South Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum 11, 247-268.
20. ^{{cite journal | last1 = Travouillon | first1 = K.J. | last2 = Hand | first2 = S. J. | last3 = Archer | first3 = M. | last4 = Black | first4 = K. H. | year = 2014 | title = Earliest modern bandicoot and bilby (Marsupialia, Peramelidae and Thylacomyidae) from the Miocene of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, Australia | url = | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 34 | issue = 2| pages = 375–382 | doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.799071}}
21. ^{{cite news|title=Prince George wows Sydney as picture-perfect royals visit the zoo|url=http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/prince-george-wows-sydney-as-pictureperfect-royals-visit-the-zoo-20140420-36yow.html|accessdate=21 November 2016|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=20 April 2014}}

External links

{{Commons category|Macrotis}}{{Wiktionary|bilby|Macrotis}}
  • ARKive - [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202135805/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Macrotis_lagotis/ images and movies of the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis)]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060323122123/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/wildlife/threatened_plants_and_animals/endangered/bilby/ Environmental Protection Agency Queensland]
  • Easter Bilby
  • Arid Recovery
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20050616064612/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.cgi?parkid=79 Currawinya National Park]
{{Peramelemorphia}}{{Taxonbar|from=Q617087}}

4 : Peramelemorphs|Marsupials of Australia|Marsupial genera|Extant Miocene first appearances

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