Eastern Bettong
Bettongia gaimardi
- Near threatened
- Card rarity: Uncommon
- Mammals
The eastern bettong, also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like most marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies have been reintroduced there.
Classification
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Family
- Potoroidae
- Genus
- Bettongia