Nature Notes - Pig-footed Bandicoot

Features

Sadly the Pig-footed Bandicoot (Chaeropus ecaudatus) is extinct. It was a small pale orange and fawn finely built bandicoot with long ears and nose and a unique arrangement of toes.

Adaptations

The Pig-footed Bandicoot was nocturnal and had two functional toes on their forefeet (resembling the cloven hoof of a small deer) and one on the hind feet. Their vision was poor, but their sense of smell and hearing were acute.

Habitat

Formely widespread in Australian desert woodlands, shrublands and grasslands

Wild Status

The Pig-footed Bandicoot is extinct. The last specimen was collected in 1901 and Western Desert Aboriginal people knew it to exist until the 1950s. Many factors are believed to have contributed to their demise, including predation from feral cats and foxes, land clearing and the reduction of traditional Aboriginal burning practices.

Diet

The Pig-footed Bandicoot was an omnivore.

Predators

Feral cats, red foxes, dingoes and Wedge-tailed Eagles would have preyed on the Pig-footed Bandicoot.

Home

The Pig-footed Bandicoot sheltered during the day in a grassy nest.

Life Span

Unknown

Size

Up to 200 grams

Reproduction

Unknown