Southern ningaui facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Southern ningaui |
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| Southern ningaui captured in the Middleback Ranges, South Australia, 2011. | |
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| Southern ningaui range |
The Southern ningaui (scientific name: Ningaui yvonneae) is a super tiny marsupial! It's a carnivore, which means it eats meat, and it's related to a family of animals called Dasyuridae. These little creatures look a lot like the Ningaui ridei, which lives in central Australia.
You can find Southern ningauis in sandy areas along the southern coast of Australia. They love to live in spinifex plants. Their fur is usually a brownish-yellow or grayish-green color, with a lighter gray tummy and hints of cinnamon.
Ningaui yvonneae mostly enjoys eating smaller bugs like insects and spiders. But don't let their size fool you! They can also catch and eat bigger animals like cockroaches and small skinks (a type of lizard). They use their narrow snout to deliver quick, strong bites to their prey's head. Scientists first described this species in 1983, after looking more closely at the Ningaui group of animals, which was first identified in 1975.
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Discovering the Southern Ningaui
Scientists first officially described the Southern ningaui in 1983. They were studying the Ningaui group and realized there were actually three different types, even though they looked very similar on the outside. They figured this out by carefully studying the animals' skulls.
The very first Southern ningaui specimen used for its description was found near Mt Manning in Western Australia.
People sometimes call this animal by other names too, like Kitchener's ningaui or mallee ningaui.
What Does It Look Like?
The Southern ningaui is a type of carnivorous marsupial. You can tell it apart from other ningauis by its brownish-yellow or grayish-green fur. Its fur looks long and a bit messy, with longer black hairs sticking out. The dark greenish color on its back fades to a pale gray on its belly.
It has a narrow gray snout that is whitish underneath and around its face. Its eyes are quite small and close together. Its ears are tiny, only about 13 to 14 millimeters long, and they barely stick out above its fur. You might also spot a patch of cinnamon-colored fur below its ears and a faint cinnamon ring around and behind its eyes.
From its head to its body, the Southern ningaui measures about 54 to 74 millimeters (that's about 2 to 3 inches). Its tail is usually about the same length, from 57 to 70 millimeters.
Female Southern ningauis always have seven teats. This is a way to tell them apart from the Ningaui ridei, which lives in some of the same areas but has six to eight teats.
These tiny animals weigh between 5 and 10 grams. That's about as much as two nickels!
What Do They Eat and How Do They Behave?
The Southern ningaui's diet includes many different invertebrates (animals without backbones) and small reptiles like skinks.
When they have a choice, Ningaui yvonneae prefers smaller prey. This is because it takes less energy to catch and eat them, giving the ningaui more energy in return. They often eat cockroaches, spiders, and beetles.
They are very good climbers! They can move through thick spinifex plants and thin branches to find their food. They can also search for prey on the ground around the plants. During the day, they rest inside dense clumps of spinifex plants. These plants are low, spiny, and form big mounds. They might also hide in other thick plants found in semi-arid areas, like mallee scrubland or heaths on sandy plains or dunes.
Where Do They Live?
The Southern ningaui lives in dry, semi-arid parts of southern Australia. You'll always find them where Triodia plants grow. They have been seen in places like Lake Cronin in Western Australia, parts of South Australia and Victoria (like the Big Desert, Sunset Country, and Annuello), and even as far east as Round Hill in New South Wales.
Even though they are spread out over a large area, they might only be common in certain spots. In other places, they can be rare or even missing. It can be hard to find many of them when scientists try to count them, except in a few special places. One of these places is the Middleback Ranges on the Eyre Peninsula, where there's a large population.
Studies show that Southern ningauis really like living near Triodia irritans plants. These plants offer them a safe place to hide from animals that might try to eat them.
These small animals cover a lot of ground for their size! They might stay in one area or move around over several months. Female ningauis tend to stay closer to home. They are often found within 70 meters of where they were first caught, and even after more than 100 days, they usually stay within 200 meters. Males move around more, sometimes traveling up to 600 meters in a short time. During breeding season, they move even more widely.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The Southern ningaui usually lives for about 14 months. Female ningauis can have babies more than once during the breeding season, which lasts from September to early February. However, because they have such a short life, a female ningaui usually only has one group of babies in her entire life. This means that usually, you'll only see one age group of ningauis at a time, except right after the breeding season when the new young ones are around before the older generation passes away.
Conservation Status
In 2015, the Southern ningaui was listed as "least concern" by the IUCN Red List. This means that their population is thought to be stable and not in immediate danger. However, the ningaui population in New South Wales is listed as "vulnerable" (meaning it could become endangered), and in Victoria, it's listed as "near threatened" (meaning it could become vulnerable soon).
