Brush-tailed mulgara facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brush-tailed mulgara |
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| Dasycercus blythi | |
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Dasycercus
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| Species: |
blythi
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| Brush-tailed mulgara range | |
The brush-tailed mulgara (Dasycercus blythi) is a small, meat-eating marsupial that lives in Australia. It weighs about 100 grams, which is roughly the same as a small apple. These amazing animals are a bit like tiny, furry hunters!
Male brush-tailed mulgaras are usually bigger than females. Their bodies are about 12 to 17 centimeters long, and their tails are 6 to 10 centimeters long. They can store fat in their tails, making them look thick, especially at the base. This fat helps them survive when food is hard to find.
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What Does a Mulgara Look Like?
The brush-tailed mulgara is a medium-sized marsupial that eats meat. Females weigh between 50 and 90 grams. Males are a bit heavier, weighing from 75 to 120 grams. Their bodies are 12 to 17 centimeters long. Their tails are 6 to 10 centimeters long.
Their tails are special! They are shorter than their body and head. When the mulgara is healthy, its tail gets thick. The first part of the tail has short, yellow hairs. The rest of the tail has longer black hairs. The underside of the tail is black, except for a small yellow part near the body.
The fur on their back is sandy-colored with brown speckles. Near the skin, the fur is dark grey. Their belly, the inside of their legs, and their pouch are pure white. A key difference between the brush-tailed mulgara and its close relative, the crest-tailed mulgara, is its sandy color and the lack of a crest (a line of longer fur) on its tail.
Where Do Mulgaras Live?
Brush-tailed mulgaras live in the dry, desert areas of Australia. They have been seen in the north-western, central, and south-western parts of the country. They used to be common across the central deserts. However, their numbers started to drop in the 1930s. Now, they are found in smaller, separated areas.
It's a bit unusual that they live in areas with spinifex grass. This habitat can be unstable. For example, it is very prone to bushfires. Mulgaras tend to stay in one place, so a stable home is important for them.
What Do Mulgaras Eat?
The brush-tailed mulgara is a clever hunter. It eats many different things. Its diet includes insects, frogs, reptiles, and even small mammals. Beetles are one of their favorite foods!
Being able to eat many different things helps them survive. It means they can find food even when some types are scarce. This flexibility also helps them stay in their home areas.
Mulgara Families and Groups
Mulgara groups are often spread out. There might not be many in one spot. But in some places, they can be quite common. Unlike many other small marsupials that travel far, mulgaras tend to stay in their home areas. They don't move around much.
Their numbers often go down in winter and spring. This might be because there is less food in winter. Less food means less for pregnant females and their young. Also, male mulgaras might fight over females, which can reduce their numbers.
However, after big rainfalls, their populations can grow a lot! This is thought to happen because they compete with small rodents. When it rains, rodent populations explode, and mulgaras have more food. Young female mulgaras often stay near where they were born. Young males, however, tend to move away. This helps them find new places to live and find mates. Once a male finds a good home, it usually stays there.
How Mulgaras Have Babies
Brush-tailed mulgaras breed at certain times of the year. They usually have only one group of babies each year. The young mulgaras can start having their own babies the year after they are born. This is different from some other marsupials that have many litters a year.
Scientists think they have fewer litters because they can find bigger and more reliable food, like small mammals and reptiles. Unlike some other marsupials, male mulgaras do not die after breeding.
Pregnancy lasts between 30 and 48 days. Things like not enough food, cold weather, or going into a deep sleep (called torpor) can make the pregnancy longer. After birth, the young mulgaras stay attached to their mother for 12 to 15 weeks. They hang below her body. Mulgaras have a small pouch with two side flaps. Up to six young have been found in a mother's pouch.
About half of the babies born are male and half are female. Some mulgaras can live for more than one breeding season. But only a few live into their third year. In zoos, mulgaras have lived for up to five years.
Mulgara Behavior
Brush-tailed mulgaras are excellent diggers. They dig deep burrows in the ground. These burrows protect them from extreme weather, like hot summers and cold winters. They also help keep them safe from predators, like foxes and cats, which were brought to Australia by Europeans.
Their burrows are usually about 0.5 meters deep. Outside of breeding season, a single mulgara usually lives in a burrow alone. Some mulgaras use a burrow only once. Others use the same burrows repeatedly for a long time.
Mulgaras often go into a special deep sleep called torpor. They might enter torpor at night and stay in it until midday. They even do this when they are having babies, even though it uses up energy. Torpor helps them save energy in both summer and winter. It allows their bodies to use less energy than normal.
Protecting the Mulgara
It's hard to count how many brush-tailed mulgaras there are. Their numbers change a lot depending on the weather. This makes it difficult to know if their population is growing or shrinking.
We don't know for sure why mulgara numbers have declined in some areas. Possible threats include changes in how fires happen in their habitat. Also, animals like cattle and rabbits, which were brought to Australia, eat the same plants as mulgaras. And new predators, like foxes and cats, hunt them. Some people also think that damage to their environment has hurt mulgara populations.
To help protect them, scientists do animal surveys. They use special traps to count mulgaras. They also use controlled burning programs. These programs help create the best habitat for mulgaras. Fires don't harm the mulgara population as long as at least 15% of their habitat remains unburnt.
Caring for mulgara habitats means managing fires carefully. Land should be burned in a mosaic pattern, meaning some parts burn and some don't. No single piece of land should be burned more often than once every three to five years. This helps make sure there is always enough unburnt habitat for the mulgaras to thrive.
See also
In Spanish: Dasycercus blythi para niños
