A dunnart (from Noongardonat[1]) is a narrow-footed marsupial the size of a European mouse, of the genus Sminthopsis. Dunnarts have a largely insectivorous diet.
Taxonomy
Fat-tailed dunnart in its natural habitat.
The genus name Sminthopsis was published by Oldfield Thomas in 1887, the author noting that the name Podabrus that had previously been used to describe the species was preoccupied as a genus of beetles.[2]
The type species is Phascogale crassicaudata, published by John Gould in 1844.
The American Society of Mammalogists also lists S. griseoventer as a synonym of S. fuliginosa,[6] and moved S. longicaudata to the genus Antechinomys.[7]
Description
A male dunnart's Y chromosome is the smallest known mammalian Y chromosome.[8]
^Toder R.; Wakefield M.J.; Graves J.A.M. (2000). "The minimal mammalian Y chromosome - the marsupial Y as a model system". Cytogenet Cell Genet. 91 (1–4): 285–92. doi:10.1159/000056858. PMID11173870. S2CID30401023.
_(14559441713).jpg)
