White-footed dunnart
Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Infraclass
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Sminthopsis leucopus

The white-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis leucopus ) is a marsupial that occurs on Tasmania and mainland Australia. It occurs along the coast and in inner Gippsland and Alpine areas up to 400 metres near Narbethong. In southern New South Wales, the white-footed dunnart is known to occur at elevations at least as high as 1000 metres. The length from snout to tail tip is 140–200 mm of which head to anus is 70–110 mm and tail 70–90 mm long and with a weight of 19–27 g.

Distribution

Geography

The average rainfall of its habitat is between 600–1000 mm per year. Unlike the fat-tailed dunnart, this species requires forest and woodland cover of more than 50% of any square metre of heath understory or mid-story plant species. Other habitats include coastal tussock grasslands, sedgeland and wet heath. This dunnart has an individual range of about 120 square metres for both sexes, although this varies greatly among males, with some males acquiring territories of up to 1200 square metres. Male territories often overlap those of females.

White-footed dunnart habitat map
White-footed dunnart habitat map
White-footed dunnart
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Habits and Lifestyle

Lifestyle
Seasonal behavior

Diet and Nutrition

The feeding habit of this 20–30 g species is similar to that of other dasyurids; it is an opportunistic feeder. Diet consists of invertebrates and reptiles of between 1 and 18 mm in length.

Population

References

1. White-footed dunnart Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-footed_dunnart
2. White-footed dunnart on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/20297/166496257

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