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Abstract: Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836, is a small to medium-sized dasyuromorph marsupial known as the numbat. M. fasciatus is unusual among marsupials in that it is diurnal and feeds exclusively on termites, and it has a number of characteristic adaptations associated with this specialized niche. M. fasciatus has at least 8 postcanine teeth in the lower jaw; the dentition is variable between individuals and even between the 2 sides of the jaw of the same individual. Although widespread throughout southern Australia at the time of European settlement, M. fasciatus is currently restricted to 2 naturally occurring populations in the southwestern portion of Western Australia, and some additional populations within its historic range resulting from successful reintroductions. It is currently listed as ''Endangered.''
Key words: diurnal behavior, endangered species, marsupial, numbat, rusty numbat, termitivore
© 28 July 2011 American Society of Mamalogists
Synonymies completed 15 June 2010
DOI: 10.1644/881.1 w w w . m a m m a l o g y . o r g
Myrmecobius Waterhouse, 1836 Myrmecobius Waterhouse, 1836:69. Type species Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836, by monotypy.
CONTEXT AND CONTENT. Order Dasyuromorphia, family Myrmecobiidae. Myrmecobius is monotypic.
Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836
Numbat
Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836:69. Type locality ''interior of the Swan River settlement, about 90 miles to the S. E. of the mouth of that river,'' near Brookton, Western Australia.
CONTEXT AND CONTENT. Context as for genus. Wood Jones (1923b) formally described South Australian specimens of Myrmecobius as M. rufus. However this form is generally considered to be a subspecies, M. fasciatus rufus (Finlayson 1933; Groves 2005), which is presumed now to be extinct. The last anecdotal report of a sighting of M. f. rufus was during the 1960s, with the most recent specimen collected near Warburton, Western Australia, around 1950 (Friend et al. 1982). Two subspecies are recognized (Groves 2005):
M. fasciatus fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836:69. See above.
M. fasciatus rufus Wood Jones, 1923b:123. Type locality ''South Australia.''
NOMENCLATURAL NOTES. The vernacular name numbat is derived from Australian Aboriginal terms for M. fasciatus including noobat, nombat, nyoombot, and nambart. Terms wai-hoo, wai-hao, weeoo, weeou, wee-u, weeu, wi-u, wiu, walpurti, mutjurarranypa, and parrtjilaranypa also have been used by Aboriginal people to describe this species (Abbott 2001; Friend 2008). Early European vernacular names...