Latest news with #greaterbilby
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Outback discovery rewrites understanding about ‘common' creature
Researchers have discovered an isolated group of possums living in Western Australia are part of a locally extinct population that once roamed the Red Centre. Separated from other possums, the group found around the Pilbara and the Midwest have become smaller overall, grown larger ears, developed a thinner tail, and become less furry to cope with the heat. Lead researcher and Edith Cowan University PhD candidate, Shelby Middleton, said they could one day evolve into their own subspecies because they are now isolated. 'They are showing differences in the way they look, and will not be mixing with other populations because they don't have any gene flow anymore,' she told Yahoo News Australia. Although these possums appear visually different, the population is actually the same subspecies that lives on the east coast and South Australia. This means its ancestors once had a range that extended over 3,000km across the continent to Melbourne and Sydney. Sadly, the population has become isolated because the introduction of cats and foxes by European settlers killed them off in central Australia. It's hard to imagine how different Australia looked 250 years ago, when the centre would have been teeming with life. Another small marsupial, the greater bilby, once covered 80 per cent of the continent, but it is now threatened with extinction. Previously, it had been thought that the population of brushtails in the Pilbara and Midwest was the same subspecies as those in Perth and the southwest. But they had simply evolved to appear visually similar because they lived in a similar environment. But after Middleton and her team partnered with the Western Australian Museum and Department of Biodiversity, they linked its genetic material to the east coast subspecies. This was done using preserved museum specimens and roadkill collected by locals in the regions being studied. Prior to the research, there was only one other subspecies known to exist in Western Australia, the smaller northern brushtail, which is found in the Kimberley. Trichosurus vulpecula arnhemensis exists in the Kimberley and the Top End. Trichosurus vulpecula hypoleucus exists in southwest WA, Barrow Island, and Broome. Trichosurus vulpecula vulpecula exists in Pilbara, Midwest, the east coast and South Australia, While populations of brushtails in the east remain stable, some in the west are gradually declining. The Pilbara is continuing to develop industrially, with the federal government approving a new fertiliser plant for the region last year, and an extension of Woodside's North-West Shelf fossil fuel extraction program last week. 🚨 Rare fish linked to dark legend on windswept Tasmanian beach 🏝️ Late-night beach find highlights sad side of Queensland tourism 😡 Anger erupts as Indigenous site 'totally destroyed' in violent act Traditionally, new projects have had to evaluate their impact on threatened species, but not those believed to be abundant. They are also probably overlooked at sites when construction is being undertaken. 'We need to increase awareness so mining companies take more notice of brushtail possums when they do see them,' Middleton said. 'We've got a lot to learn about this population in the Pilbara and Midwest because it's been previously overlooked. We don't completely know their range. We know they exist in some small populations, but outside of towns we don't know where they are.' The research is published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Rare images show tiny Aussie creatures in fierce kangaroo-like battle
Rare images show ordinarily shy marsupials engaging in a fierce battle in the early morning hours. While it's common to see kangaroos boxing each other, there's a reason we don't often see greater bilbies engaging in the same behaviour. There aren't many of them. The pictures were taken at a predator-proof sanctuary created by Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), which keeps small mammals safe from invasive cats and foxes. Dr Alexandra Ross, an ecologist who studies greater bilby behaviour, said the animals are so sparsely populated, it's uncommon to see two together. 'I find it exciting to have two in one shot, and then to have them fighting is super cool… they're showing a behaviour that would be normal, but we don't see it because they're so rare,' she told Yahoo News. At least one of the bilbies is a male, and so Ross and the AWC team believe the images may capture a territorial dispute. 'The greater bilby used to cover around 80 per cent of Australia, but its range has declined by 80 per cent. They're super rare, but they're not supposed to be. They're supposed to be a common species,' she said. Before Europeans arrived in Australia, it would have been common to hear the sounds of greater bilbies throughout Central Australia, extending across to Adelaide and Perth. Today, their range is limited to isolated pockets of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. 'These two bilbies fighting should be a common sight outside your bedroom window, but we have to go to all this effort now so they can exist,' Ross said. 📸 Sad story behind viral image highlights Australia's invasive species crisis 😳 Grim discovery in abandoned fishing trap near popular track 🌏 Air crew makes exciting 'once-in-a-lifetime' discovery in outback The footage was taken in the Northern Territory at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, a 261,501 hectare property that's home to 14 species threatened with extinction. Because native marsupials evolved without any evolutionary recognition of cats or foxes, in the wild, those that can't quickly learn are quickly killed. Inside the sanctuary, there is some evidence that their wary behaviour changes because they don't have to be on the lookout for introduced predators. 'Once you've got the cats and foxes out, you can bring back the native species that used to be in the area, and then they do spectacularly well. 'They're meant to be here, so as soon as you give them a chance, they do great.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
