Bettong facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bettongs |
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| Eastern bettong | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Type species | |
| Bettongia setosa Gray, 1837
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| Species | |
Bettongs, species of the genus Bettongia, are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecological engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat.
Conservation status
All species of the genus have been severely affected by ecological changes since the European settlement of Australia. Those that have not become extinct became largely confined to islands and protected reserves and are dependent on re-population programs. The diversity of the genus was poorly understood before their extirpation from the mainland, and new taxa have been identified in specimens newly discovered and already held in museum collections.
See also
In Spanish: Bettongs para niños
