Long-nosed potoroo

Scientific Name: Potorous tridactylus

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Jeff Evans, Karabar

Did You Know?

The long-nosed potoroo uses its short but strong forepaws to dig cone-shaped holes in the ground, looking for food.

The long-nosed potoroo is a rabbit sized marsupial with grey to brown fur. As its name suggests, it has a long, pointy nose, which ends in a naked tip. It uses its thin prehensile tail (prehensile means it can grip) to gather grass and other vegetation to make a nest to sleep in during the day. Long nosed potoroos weigh up to 1.6 kg, have a body length up to 400mm and a tail up to 260mm long.

Habitat:

The east coast of Australia, from southern Queensland, through NSW and Victoria, across to Tasmania. It prefers coastal heaths, forests and woodlands with thick ground cover. It will often form a series of tracks under the scrub it inhabits.

Diet:

Fungi, seeds, roots, bulbs and insects. The species is nocturnal, but it sometimes forages during the day in winter.

Reproduction:

Although long-nosed potoroos can mate throughout the year, there is a tendency to breed in spring and summer. Only one young is born, 38 days after gestation. It spends four months in the pouch suckling, and then suckles out of the pouch for a further 5-6 weeks. Up to two young can be born each year.

More Mammals

• Common Wombat
• Dingo
• Eastern Grey Kangaroo
• Echidna
• Grey-headed Flying Fox
• Kangaroo Island kangaroo
• Koala
• Long-nosed potoroo
• Parma Wallaby
• Platypus
• Red kangaroo
• Red-necked pademelon
• Ringtail possum
• Tasmanian Devil
• Yellow-footed rock-wallaby