The Northern Bettong is a small potoroid marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

 which is restricted to some areas of mixed open Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

woodlands and Allocasuarina

Allocasuarina

Allocasuarina is a genus of trees in the flowering plant family Casuarinaceae. They are endemic to Australia, occurring primarily in the south. Like the closely related genus Casuarina, they are commonly called sheoaks or she-oaks, they are notable for their long, segmented branchlets that...

forests bordering rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

s in far northeastern Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

This bettong

Bettong

The bettongs are species of the genus Bettongia, sometimes referred to as rat-kangaroos. Five species are recognised:* Eastern Bettong, Bettongia gaimardi* Boodie, Bettongia lesueur...

 is a solitary animal and is nocturnal

Nocturnal animal

Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal"....

. It spends the day in a well concealed nest constructed beneath either a grass tree within a clump of grass or from other litter collected at ground level. Nesting material is carried using their prehensile tail. Ectomycorrhizal fungal sporocarp

Sporocarp

Sporocarp can refer to any of several structures whose primary function is the production and release of spores.* Sporocarp , a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures are borne....

s are the staple diet of the Northern Bettong. These are dug from beneath the soil at the bases of trees, and work to date suggests that substantial nightly movements are often required to detect this patchily distributed food source. Other foods in the diet include grass roots and tubers, lilies, herbs and sedges. The Northern Bettong appears to breed all year round, and like, other relatives of the kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

s, the joey is carried in a pouch until it is old enough to follow the mother as a 'young-at-foot'.

The Northern Bettong is an endangered animal, and only populates three regions of Queensland, Australia, all within 80 miles of each other.

External links

• http://www.australianfauna.com/northernbettong.php
• http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/tbiol/zoology/auxillry/mammals/bettong.htm