#858: Yapok

The Yapok is a South American marsupial, adapted for an aquatic lifestyle. Her hind feet are webbed, and her forelimbs bear hands, which help her to capture underwater prey. Both the male and female have pouches. A ring of muscle seals the female's pouch firmly shut, preventing the young from drowning, whereas the male's protects his genitalia and keep him more streamlined when swimming. During the day , the Yapok sleeps in burrows on the bank, and she comes out at dusk to forage.

If you are wondering why this image looks a little different from my usual, it's because I used a program called VectorMagic to turn her into a vectorised PNG.

Here's the original JPG:

#841: Wombat

This post is dedicated to Ursula Vernon, author/illustrator of the Digger comic and Dragonbreath series, plus much more.

Everytime I see a wombat, I think of her.

The Wombats are three species of solidly built marsupial found, as most marsupials are, in Australia. She is characterised by her sturdy digging claws, short legs, stumpy tail and adorable bear-like face. Of the three species, two are of Least Concern, but the northern hairy-nosed wombat (named such for her hairy nose and northern distribution) is Critically Endangered. She is nocturnal, spending her days resting in her warren of burrows and coming out at night to graze on grasses and other foliage. Therefore, she is essentially Australia's equivalent of the bunny rabbit. Like all maruspials, the baby is carried in a pouch - hers faces backwards so that as she digs, it does not get filled with dirt.

A group of Wombats is known as a wisdom.

815: Wallaby

Wallabies are small-to-medium sized macropods, found in Australia. Their long legs are used to propel  themselves along at high speed and at great height. This fellow is an Agile Wallaby of Northern Australia. She is common and wisdespread, found in dry woodlands and open grassland. Although she often forages alone, she will gather with others in open areas. Here the increased numbers of eyes make it dificult for predators to come close.

Related species:
Rock-wallaby
Nabarlek
Pademelon

#756: Thylacine

The Thylacine was a large carnivorous marsupial, named the Tasmanian Tiger for his striped hide. He is an example of convergent evolution - being a dog-like predator related to the Tasmanian Devil and the Quoll. Unlike most marsupials, both male and female had a pouch: the male's acting to protect his external reproductive organs in his thickly forested home. He had a very large gape, capable of opening his jaws to 120 degree angle.  Already extirpated from the mainland due to competition with the introduced Dingo (as well as disease), his last refuge was the island of Tasmania. Early settlers decided that he posed a threat to their lifestock, and set about diligently eliminating the species.  The last wild speciman was shot in 1930, and the last captive died in 1936.
 
There are a surprisingly large number of unconfirmed Thylacine sightings, both in Tasmania and south-east Australia. Thylacine can be distinguished from a dog by his long, stiff tail which is held more akin to that of a kangaroo's, and an awkward gait (described by one maybe-sighter as "resembling bad CGI"). I know I am not alone in hoping that there are still some of this strange carnivorous kangaroo-like creature roaming the wooded areas of Australia. And, indeed, would dearly love to have my own own unconfirmed sighting to add to the list. Maybe next year, when we go to Tasmania...
http://www.thylacineresearchunit.org/sightingreports.htm

#731: Sugar Glider

The Sugar Glider is a small gliding possum, native to Australia and New Guinea. Omivorous in diet, the Sugar Glider feeds on sap, honeydew and gum in winter, and insects in summer. Pollen is an important part of her diet and she acts as a pollinator for various Banksia species. Her most characteristic feature is her patagium, which extends from her forelimbs to her hindlimbs. When spread, this creates an aerofoil that allows her to glide from tree to tree. She rarely, if ever, touches the ground. Highly social, the males aid in the care of the youngsters. Juvenile Sugar Gliders are unable to thermoregulate until they are 100 days old, and the parents take turns in keeping them warm.

Sugar Gliders have found their way into the exotic pet market. With their endearing features and interesting behaviour they are attractive to those seeking something a bit different. However, they are also nocturnal, have a fairly specialist diet, are social creatures and will pine if kept alone, and they cannot be house-trained. Currently wild-caught animals are being poached and smuggled into the pet trade, which may have an impact on the wild populations in the future.

#630: Quoll

The Quoll are six species of cat-like marsupials, found in Australia and New Guinea. He is nocturnal in nature, spending the day sleeping in a hollow log and coming out at night to hunt. His prey ranges in size from frogs and reptiles, up to possums, rabbits and hare. Unfortunately, the Northern Quoll has also been known to prey on the poisonous cane toad, with fatal results. Other threats come from foxes and feral cats. Mostly solitary, during the breeding season, all female Quoll come into heat simultaneously. This drives the males into a rampant three-week long, sex frenzy, filled with violent, vigorous mating marathons. During this period they stop eating, deplete their energy reserves and die.

#603: Possum

The Possums are a diverse range of medium-sized marsupials, found in Australia. They are named after the oppossum from the Americas, to which they bear not-really-that-much of a resemblance. This fellow is the Brushtail Possum. He is omnivorous, feasting on leaves, fruit, flowers, insects, birds eggs and occasionally the birds themselves. Adaptable in nature, he can be found in urban environments, using powerlines as a means of locomotion and occasionally denning down in the eaves of houses. Introduced to New Zealand in the 1850s, in the hope of establishing a fur industry, he flourished and became an invasive pest. Now perhaps 30 million possums inhabit the New Zealand forests, defoliating trees and destroying the fragile ecosystems. Like all marsupials, baby Possums are born after a short gestation period, before developing further within the mother's pouch.

Creature Feature #561: Pademelon

The Pademelon is a charming little macropod, found in the thickly scrubbed undergrowth of eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. She dines on leaves, fruits and berries. Like all marsupials, the joey is born after a short gestation, before moving into its mother's pouch to develop. The mother may mate again whilst carrying a joey, and the new embryo becomes fixed in a state of suspended animation. Once her joey begins independent enough to leave the pouch, the embryo begins developing and she can soon have another infant.

Creature Feature #537: Opossum

The Opossum is an American marsupial, not especially closely related to the rather cuddlier Australian possums. They are opportunistic in both diet and habitat, and as such have flourished in the urban environment and are often regarded as a pest. Nocturnal in habit, Opossums are solitary and occasionalyl arboreal, using their semi-prehensile tail to help keep balance. If threatened by a predator, the Opossum will play dead, collapsing with lips drawn back, foaming at the mouth and emiting an unpleasant odour. This is an unvoluntary reaction to stress, and the Opossum will remain stiff and motionless for some time - even allowing herself to be picked up and carried around.

Creature Feature #517: Numbat

The Numbat is a marsupial insectivore, once widespread across southern Australia. However, the introduction of the fox had a massive impact on this terrestrial species, and now only scattered populations remain in western Australia. In recent years, wild populations have been established from captive bred animals, in two fenced reserves of south Australia. Her diet consists, exclusively, of termites - and she can requires 20,000 a day. She is solitary and territorial, aggressively defending it from other females, but allowing the range of males to overlap - especially in breeding season.

Creature Feature #515: Noolbenger

The tiny Noolbenger, or Honey Possum, measures up to 9 cm in length. She follows a purely nectarivous diet, using her long pointed snout and brush tipped tongue to gather it. Unable to travel long distances, she is reliant on floral diversity with year-round access to flowering plants. During the heat of the day, she rests inside tree hollows or abandoned bird nests, coming out when it is cooler to feed. When it is too cold, her body enters a state of torpor, allowing her to slow her metabolism.

Creature Feature #490: Nabarlek

The Nabarlek is a Pygmy Rock-wallaby, standing only about 30cm tall. She is found only in three areas of  Australia, including Kakadu National Park. During the day she sleeps sheltered in rock crevices and caves, venturing out at night to forage on the grass. She is shy and secretive, and as such little is known about her behaviour. Rock-wallaby are the goats of the marsupial world, being extremely agile. The rocky habitat affords them protection from most predators.

She has not yet received a IUCN rating - being considered "Data defiicient" buy populations are thought to be on the decline and the patchy distribution could cause future complications. For the purposes of Zootrophy, she will be classified as "near threatened".

Creature Feature #476: Monito del Monte

The Monito del Monte is a marsupial mouse found in the forests of South America. He is the New World marsupial most closely related to the Australian marsupial species. Arboreal in nature, he constructs a spherical nest of waterproof leaves, lining it with moss and grass. His tail is somewhat prehensile and hairless on the underside, allowing him better grip against the tree branches. It also is used to store fat to last him through his winter hibernation period.

Creature Feature #399: Kultarr

Keeping up the trend of adorable mammals with long hindlegs, I present the third (or fourth if you count "kangaroo") that begins with K.

The Kultarr is a tiny marsupial, related - but not closely - to the Kowari of two days ago. She makes her home in the arid interior deserts of Australia, inhabiting gibber plains and sandy deserts. Here she hunts alone, at night, for insects and other tasty invertebrates. During the day she hides away in soil cracks or burrows made by other creatures. Her long hind-legs enable her to move in hops and give her a superficial resemblance to jerboas and hopping mice.

Creature Feature #396: Kowari

Although it somewhat resembles the Kangaroo Rat from several weeks ago, the Kowari is not related to it (although it is related to the Kultarr I will be uploading within the next week). She is a marsupial from central Australia, where she makes her home in grasslands and deserts.  She is a voracious predator, devouring mostly insects and spiders, but also birds, rodents and reptiles.

Creature Feature #390: Koala

The Koala is a arboreal maruspial. His diet consists predominantly of eucalyptus leaves. These leaves have a high water content, meaning he does not have to drink often. They are not, however, provide much energy and the Koala spends up to 20 hours of his day asleep with short periods of active feeding spread throughout. He does not travel far, and will often stay in the same tree for an entire day. Asocial in nature, he does not willingly interract with others outside of the mating season. Mating is noisy and often brutal, with the female fighting off her potential suitors and the males fighting amongst themselves. She will eventually sucuumb to the most dominant.

So that's it folks, this cute and cuddly animal is in fact lethargic, viciously antisocial and prone to forcing copulation - sometimes with females who aren't even in oestrus. 

Creature Feature #368: Kakarratul

The Kakarratul is one of two species of marsupial mole, the other almost identical in appearance. Blind and with a torpedo-shaped body, she is designed for a subterranean lifestyle. She swims through the sand, using her large, flat claws to burrow ahead. Her smaller hindfeet push the soil back, closing the tunnel behind her. Her pouch faces backwards, which prevents it from filling with sand. She has two teats, and can bear up to two offspring at a time. Very little is known about this secretive creature, as she only occasionally comes to the surface, usually after rain, in pursuit of her invertebrate prey.

Creature Feature #366: Kangaroo

Kangaroo are various marsupials from the Macropod (meaning "big foot") Family. They are the only large animal to use leaping as a means of locomotion. This is enabled by the large, elastic tendons in their hind-legs, in which they store energy. Due to their dry environment, Kangaroo must be capable of traveling great distances to forage. Like all marsupials, the newborn joey is born tiny and underdeveloped, yet it crawls across the mother's belly to her pouch. Here it will remain for around 235 days, leaving the pouch for the first time at 190 days, but returning regularly.

Creature Feature #282: Greater Glider

The Greater Glider is a fairly large ringtail possum, named for the gliding membrane stretching between her fore-elbow and hind-ankle. She generally makes her home in eucalyptus forests, and dines almost exclusively upon their leaves. This foliage is low in nutrients and high in lignified fibre, requiring a specialised caecum in her gut to aid with digestion. She is solitary and spends her days asleep in tree canopies, coming out after dark to forage high in the canopy. To traverse distances between trees, she uses her gliding membrane, using her long, bushy tail to steer.

Creature Feature #228: Feathertail Glider

The Feathertail Glider is a tiny gliding possum. She is characterised by her tail, which is as long as her head and body combined, and serrated along the edge, like a feather. It is prehensile, used to grip the branches, to balance herself as she leaps from tree to tree, and to act as a rudder while gliding. Her main diet is insects, pollen, nectar and seeds. She is highly active and social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. Often multiple mothers will share the same nest - usually a tree hollow or nest box - and even care for each other's joeys. By sharing the nest, the Feathertails also share their body heat, keeping warm on cooler nights.