Wallace's dasyure facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wallace's dasyure |
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Myoictis
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wallacei
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| Wallace's dasyure range | |
Wallace's dasyure (Myoictis wallacei), also known as Wallace's three-striped dasyure, is a small, meat-eating animal. It belongs to a group of animals called Dasyuromorphia. This animal is a marsupial, which means it carries its babies in a pouch, much like a kangaroo.
You can find Wallace's dasyure in the countries of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Specifically, it lives on the Aru Islands. These islands are part of the Maluku Province in Indonesia.
The scientific name of this animal, Myoictis wallacei, honors a famous British naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace. He was the one who first collected a specimen of this dasyure in the Aru Islands.
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About Wallace's Dasyure
Wallace's dasyure is a type of carnivore. This means it eats other animals. It is part of the order Dasyuromorphia. This group includes many different marsupials that live in Australia and New Guinea. Most of them are carnivores or insectivores (they eat insects).
What is a Marsupial?
Marsupials are special mammals. Their babies are born very tiny and not fully developed. After birth, the babies crawl into a pouch on their mother's belly. They stay there and drink milk until they are big enough to live outside the pouch. Not all marsupials have a pouch, but many do.
Where Wallace's Dasyure Lives
This dasyure is found in tropical forests. These forests are warm and humid all year round. The Aru Islands, where it lives, are a group of islands. They are located in the eastern part of Indonesia. This area is known for its rich and diverse wildlife.
Who Was Alfred Russel Wallace?
Alfred Russel Wallace was a very important scientist. He lived from 1823 to 1913. He was a naturalist, explorer, and biologist. He is famous for developing the idea of natural selection. This idea explains how living things change over time. He came up with this idea at the same time as Charles Darwin.
Wallace spent many years exploring. He traveled to places like the Amazon River basin and the Malay Archipelago. During his travels, he collected many animal and plant specimens. The Wallace's dasyure is just one of the many species he discovered.
