Bandicoot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bandicoots
Temporal range: Late Oligocene – Recent
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| Eastern barred bandicoot (Perameles gunni) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Superorder: | Australidelphia |
| Order: | Peramelemorphia |
| Superfamilies, etc. | |
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See text. |
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Bandicoots are fascinating small to medium-sized marsupials. Scientists group these animals into an order called Peramelemorphia. They are mostly active at night and eat a variety of foods. You can find these unique animals only in the Australia and New Guinea region, including nearby islands like the Bismarck Archipelago and Seram. There are more than 20 different kinds of bandicoots!
Discovering Bandicoots: Australia's Unique Marsupials
What Exactly is a Bandicoot?
Bandicoots are part of a special group of mammals called marsupials. This means their babies are born very tiny and then continue to grow safely in their mother's pouch. They are largely nocturnal, which means they are most active at night, searching for food. Bandicoots are also omnivorous, so they eat both plants and small animals.
The Story Behind the Name "Bandicoot"
The word "bandicoot" has an interesting history! It comes from a word in the Telugu language, spoken in South India. The original word, pandikokku (పందికొక్కు), means "pig-rat." This name was first used for a completely different animal, a large rat found in India, called a bandicoot rat. Later, people started using the name "bandicoot" for the marsupials we know today in Australia and New Guinea.
Amazing Features of Bandicoots
Bandicoots have a very distinctive look and special skills that help them survive.
How Bandicoots Use Their Noses and Claws
Bandicoots have V-shaped faces that end in a long, pointed nose, almost like a tiny trunk! This special nose, along with their sharp claws, helps them dig for food. They are excellent diggers, using their snouts to sniff out tasty treats underground and their claws to dig them up quickly. They have small but strong teeth, perfect for chewing their varied diet.
Bandicoot Body and Survival Skills
These marsupials can grow to be about 28 to 79 centimeters (11 to 31 inches) long. They usually weigh between 0.2 to 1.6 kilograms (0.4 to 3.5 pounds). Their bodies are covered in fur that can be brown, black, golden, white, or grey. Bandicoots also have strong back legs, which are great for jumping around.
Bandicoots are well-suited for hot and dry places. They have a naturally low body temperature and a slow metabolism. This helps them save energy and stay cool. They also have clever ways to keep from losing too much water, like panting, which helps them survive in warm climates.
How Baby Bandicoots Grow
Like all marsupials, bandicoots have a special way of raising their young. After a short time inside the mother, tiny, undeveloped babies are born. They then crawl into their mother's pouch, where they continue to grow and develop safely, feeding on milk until they are ready to face the world.
Different Types of Bandicoots and Their Relatives
The world of bandicoots and their relatives is quite diverse! This group includes the many different kinds of bandicoots and also the bilbies.
For a long time, people thought there were just two main types: the short-legged bandicoots and the longer-legged bilbies. But we now know it's more complex! For example, some bandicoots from the rainforests of New Guinea are quite unique.
One very special bandicoot, the pig-footed bandicoot, is now extinct. It was so different that scientists placed it in its own family, Chaeropodidae. Most living bandicoots belong to the family Peramelidae, which includes both short-nosed and long-nosed bandicoots. Bilbies belong to the family Thylacomyidae.
Local Names for Bandicoots
People in different parts of Australia and New Guinea have their own names for bandicoots. For example, the Kaurna people, an Indigenous Australian group, call the southern brown bandicoot "bung" or "marti." These local names show how important these animals are to the cultures where they live.
The name bandicoot is an Anglicised version of a word from the Telugu language of South India meaning 'pig-rat'. What are now called bandicoots are not found in India and 'bandicoot' was originally applied to completely unrelated mammals—several species of large rat (rodents). Today these species, belonging to the genera Bandicota and Nesokia, are referred to as bandicoot rats.
Robert Blust reconstructs the form *mansar or *mansər 'bandicoot' for Proto-Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian from related words like Oceanic Motu mada and Fijian gwaca. It is known as aine in the Abinomn language of Papua, Indonesia.
