Marsupial anteater nambat. Photo, video

Marsupial anteaters (or, as they are also called, "nambats" or "anteaters") are rare animals. They short stature- the size of a squirrel. They belong to the marsupial family. Today we have to get to know this amazing animal better and learn a lot of interesting things about it.

Description of nambat

The length of the animal is from 17 to 27 centimeters, and the tail has a length of 13 to 17 centimeters. Males are larger than females. The weight of one animal can range from 270 to 550 grams. Puberty is reached at the age of 11 months.

The coat of representatives of the family of marsupial anteaters is short, but thick and hard. The color is gray, red with white hairs. There are 8 white stripes on the back. Relative to the body, the animals have a very long and fluffy tail. The elongated bony nose is adapted to dig the ground in search of food. And the long sticky tongue is an excellent trap for favorite termites.

marsupial anteater leads daytime look life, and after a hearty dinner likes to sleep - soak up under sunbeams. A very funny picture of watching him: lying on his back with outstretched paws and sticking out his tongue, he is blissful.

In extreme heat, it hides in the foliage or hollow of a tree. He has such a deep sleep that if you pick him up, he won't even wake up. Being a not so vigilant animal, he risks dying by negligence. This is especially true for forest fires, which are not so rare for its habitat. Slow nambats perish in the fire, not having time to wake up in time.

Habitat of a marsupial

Where do marsupial anteaters live? We can answer this question below.

Until the end of the 18th century, the population was widespread in western and southern Australia. But after the European colonization of the mainland, these animals were significantly reduced in number. And many of them have retained their habitat in the southwestern part of the mainland in eucalyptus, acacia forests and woodlands.

This choice of terrain for the marsupial anteater is not accidental: termite-affected eucalyptus leaves are dropped to the ground. And this is food for him (in the form of termites) and shelter from the leaves of a tree. It can be found running on the ground or moving by jumping. Periodically, he stands on his hind legs to look around for safety. If he sees in the sky, he will rush to hide in a shelter.

A photo of a marsupial anteater while checking the area for the presence of a predator helps to imagine what this animal looks like.

Animal diet

The marsupial anteater feeds on insects; termites or ants, large insects, are its favorite food. Thanks to its keen sense of smell, it can find its food even under the ground or leaves. If necessary, he can resort to the help of his powerful claws to get through the wood to his delicacy.

Ants have a long tongue that can protrude up to 10 centimeters in length. The tongue, like Velcro, captures its prey. When caught, small pebbles, earth or other objects may come across on the tongue. All this he rolls several times in his mouth, then swallows.

Remarkably, the teeth of the animal are small and weak. They have an asymmetrical shape and can be of different lengths and even widths. Teeth about 50-52 pieces. The hard palate extends further than in most mammals. But this feature is connected with the length of his tongue.

Reproduction of the nambat population

Marsupial anteaters lead a solitary lifestyle. But when it's time for the mating season, the males set off in search of the female. This happens from December to April.

January to May in prepared loving parents very tiny centimetric anteater cubs are born in the nest. There are 2 to 4 babies in a litter. The female does not have a brood pouch, so they hang on their nipples, holding tightly to their mother's fur. This period lasts about 4 months until they reach a size of up to 4-5 centimeters. All this time the lactation period lasts, which ends 4 months after their birth.

From now on, the female can leave the cubs alone in the hole. Upon reaching six months, small nambats can independently get their own food. But they continue to live in the territory with their mother. By December (the beginning of summer in Australia), the younger generation begins to mature and independent life leaving the parent hole.

• Murashied is not only a rare Australian animal, but also unique. He is awake during the day and sleeps at night, which is not typical for marsupials.
• If you manage to catch the animal, then it will not resist, unlike the rest of the animal world. But you will be honored with his hiss, which will indicate his discontent and excited state.
• The tongue of the Australian marsupial has a cylindrical shape, which is uncharacteristic of mammals, as well as a length of about 10 centimeters, which is almost half the length of the body.
• The marsupial anteater eats a record number of termites per day - 20,000 pieces.
• His sleep is so deep and strong that it can only be compared with suspended animation. It's almost impossible to wake him up.
• Among mammals living on land, this is the only representative with a huge number of teeth - 52 pieces. And this despite the fact that he almost does not use them, preferring to swallow food.

The status of the animal and its protection

Due to the fact that in the habitat of the marsupial anteater appeared a large number of foxes, feral dogs and cats, and flying predators do not lose their vigilance, the population of nambats has declined sharply. In particular, this was due to the importation of red foxes to the continent in the 19th century. In the late 1970s, there were only about 1,000 individuals in southern Australia and the Northern Territory.

Also, the expansion of human agricultural activities has affected the disappearance of the marsupial anteater. Lumberjacks and farmers burned fallen dry branches, branches, and the remains of felled trees. As a result, many sleeping ants in these branches and herbs were burned due to human negligence.

At present, they are maintained artificially, which makes it possible to increase and preserve these animals.

The life expectancy of the animal reaches 4-6 years.

Nambat is an animal listed in the Red Book, has the status of "vulnerable", that is, on the verge of extinction.

In conclusion about the amazing animal

Today we had a chance to get acquainted with a unique animal from the continent of Australia - the marsupial anteater. This is an interesting animal in terms of observation. It is incapable of aggression and self-defense. Having information about its status in the Red Book, it is undoubtedly worth treating this cute animal with attention and care. Preservation of the life of Red Book animals is a priority task of mankind.

Detachment - marsupials

Family - marsupial anteaters

Genus/Species - Myrmecobius fasciatus. Marsupial anteater, or nambat, or anteater

Basic data:

DIMENSIONS

Body length with head: 27.5 cm, males are larger than females.

Tail length: 16-21 cm.

Weight: 280-550

BREEDING

Puberty: from 11 months.

Mating period: usually December-April.

Pregnancy: 14 days.

Number of cubs: 2-4.

Number of litters: for 1 year.

LIFESTYLE

Habits: marsupial anteaters (see photo) keep alone; active during the daytime.

What does it eat: mostly termites.

Sounds: sniffling, irritated hissing.

Lifespan: 3-4 years.

RELATED SPECIES

The family of marsupial anteaters, or nambats, is represented by a single species.

Nambat. Video (00:04:23)

Although the marsupial anteater belongs to the marsupial order, it lacks the brood pouch characteristic of them. Nambat cubs cling to the long, curly hair on their mother's belly. Despite the name of the family, the animal very rarely hunts ants - its favorite treats are termites.

WHAT DOES IT FEED

Termites are the nambats' favorite food; less often they feast on ants. Thanks to its sensitive nose, the animal easily finds termite passages even underground and under a layer of branches that lie on its surface. With the help of strong claws, the marsupial anteater removes only upper layer turf to open termite trails, and never dig deeper. Often this animal, in order to get to the "tidbits", with its powerful claws breaks the wood affected by termites. The marsupial anteater nambat catches insects with a long sticky tongue that can protrude 10 cm. The nambat has an extremely mobile and very strong tongue with which it can move twigs. Using a long pointed nose as a lever, it lifts stones and branches under which insects can hide. marsupials, the nambat has a lot of teeth, but it swallows its prey whole. large insects. He sweeps them with his sticky tongue into his mouth, bites them several times and then swallows them - along with the earth and stones that accidentally got on his tongue.

LOCATION

The natural habitat of the marsupial anteater is the forests in southwestern Australia, consisting of eucalyptus trees, or vandu. Nambat chooses precisely such forests for the reason that eucalyptus trees they constantly drop branches affected by termites to the ground - and this is just what he needs: the marsupial anteater feeds on termites, and the fallen branches give him shelter. Most of the day the animal is busy looking for food. He runs along the branches lying on the ground, or moves in short jumps. Nambat often stops, stands in a column and carefully looks around, checking if there is any danger nearby. Noticing the danger - say, an eagle that is circling in the sky - he instantly hides in the nest.

Having had a good meal, the beast likes to bask in the sun, doing this quite often. During such a “sunbath”, he takes a funny pose - he lies on his back, spreading his legs wide, opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out. Nambats live alone, lead a daytime lifestyle. At nightfall, the marsupial anteater settles for the night in a tree hollow or in thickets of plants. Nest nambat is lined with dry leaves and grass.

BREEDING

Outside the breeding season, nambats lead a solitary lifestyle. Only during the rutting season, which lasts from December to April, you can see animals that live in pairs.

From January to May, in a nest or a shallow hole dug out by the female specifically for this purpose, from 2 to 4 cubs are born. In nambat cubs, the nose is much shorter than in an adult animal. Since the female does not have a brood pouch, newborn marsupial anteaters cling tightly to the long hair on the mother's belly. Feeding the cubs with milk lasts several months. Already in July-August, the mother, going in search of food, leaves the cubs alone in the hole. Lactation stops when the cubs reach six months of age and are able to get food on their own. At first, the growing cubs live on the territory of the mother, gradually acquiring the skills of an adult animal, and by December (the beginning of summer in Australia) they are already starting an independent life. Animals become sexually mature at the age of one year. They soon begin to multiply.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

The name "nambat" was given to the marsupial anteater by the indigenous inhabitants of Australia. The animal is small, a little more regular squirrel, leads night image life. Nambat food consists almost entirely of termites. He can also look for them in the trees. With lightning-fast movements, the nambat takes out termites one at a time with its thin and flexible tongue. He pounces on food with such greed that you can touch him at this time and he will not interrupt his meal. Unlike true anteaters, the marsupial anteater has small teeth.

Nambat has a habit of sleeping so soundly during the day that you can pick him up without waking him up. Because of this feature, he is threatened with extinction. IN Lately through the fault of man in Australia have become more frequent Forest fires. Slow marsupial anteaters die in fire because they cannot wake up in time.

INTERESTING INFORMATION. DO YOU KNOW WHAT...

• The nambat is the only marsupial in Australia that is exclusively diurnal.
• If the nambat is taken by surprise or caught, it never resists and is limited to hissing.
• The Nambat tongue is cylindrical in shape and reaches 10 cm in length.
• Nambat eats about 20,000 termites daily.
• At night, the beast falls into a deep sleep, similar to suspended animation.
• The marsupial anteater has a record among land mammals the number of teeth, usually from 50 to 52. However, the nambat, accustomed to swallowing food whole, rarely uses them.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF NAMBAT. DESCRIPTION

Wool: gray, sometimes reddish, with white guard hairs; on the back and rump 8 white stripes; The coat is short and thick, on the belly it is longer - cubs hide in it.

Nose: long and bony, convenient for digging earth, turning over stones.

mouth opening: in a small mouth cavity is a long sticky tongue, perfectly adapted for catching termites.

Limbs: short and powerful. The forelimbs are five-fingered, the hind limbs are four-fingered. All fingers end in strong claws - a tool for digging hard earth, moss and breaking dead wood.

Tail: long and fluffy. In an excited beast, the hair on the tail bristles.

- Habitat of nambat

WHERE LIVES

The marsupial anteater lives in eucalyptus forests and scrublands in southwestern Australia.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION

Nambat is a very rare animal. The reason was the appearance on the continent of foxes, dogs and cats. Quite often, animals that slept on a dry windbreak were burned by farmers or lumberjacks, who used deadwood as firewood. Nowadays, stations for artificial breeding of marsupial anteaters are organized.

Marsupial anteater. Video (00:03:05)

Nambat. Video (00:03:58)

Marsupial anteater or nambat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is a unique animal. It is the only member of the Myrmecobius family whose closest relative the Tasmanian or Tasmanian tiger is now extinct.

Characteristics

Nambat, unlike other representatives of marsupials, is a carnivore. It leads an active lifestyle during the day, which is associated with the daily activities of its prey. At night he sleeps, falling into a stupor. Despite the name, female marsupials do not have a pouch.

Description

Nambat is a small mammal. In length, it reaches 35–45 cm along with the tail, and the weight of an adult anteater varies from 300 to 752 g. It is easily recognizable by red-brown or gray-brown fur and white-black longitudinal stripes on the back. The fur is harsh, thick.

On an elongated, pointed muzzle, along which it runs from nose to eye black line, are small erect ears. The tongue of the animal is long and narrow, it can protrude from the mouth by 10 cm. It has 52 teeth, which are small and weak.

Runs on four paws, five toes on the front, four toes on the back. Armed with strong and sharp claws. The long, fluffy tail resembles a bottle brush.

Nutrition. Lifestyle

This animal feeds only (if it comes across other types of insects, it can eat them too), capable of eating up to 20 thousand every day. Possessing a keen sense of smell, they quickly find food, digging up the ground with their paws or breaking rotten trees with them, and with the help of a sticky tongue they grab termites.

They lead an active lifestyle during the day, preferring loneliness. They are good at climbing trees. At night they sleep in tree cavities or hollow logs. In case of danger, they hide in a secluded place. Animals have a well-developed sense of smell.

Habitat

The remaining few colonies of nambats now live only in the Western part of Australia. They inhabit eucalyptus forests where old and fallen trees provide hollow logs for shelter, nesting and feeding, and grasslands that are close to water.

reproduction

marsupial anteaters most time they live alone. From December to April they begin mating season. At this time, the males leave their territories and go in search of females. To attract them, they leave marks on trees along the way with an oily secret.

Usually 2-4 blind and naked cubs are born in one female. The length of one newborn is 10mm. Baby anteaters crawl to the nipples of the female, and, having sucked, hang on them. When babies gain weight, they cling to their mother's fur.

4 months after the birth of the cubs, the female leaves them in the nest and goes in search of food. They stay with their mother for 9 months and then leave the nest. Puberty in animals occurs in the 2nd year of life.

Lifespan

IN wild nature marsupial anteaters (nambats) live an average of 6 years.

Niramin - Sep 25th, 2015

Nambat is a mammal belonging to the marsupial anteater family. It should be noted that this is the only representative of this family.

Nambat has small size: the length of its body varies from 17 to 27 cm. The marsupial anteater has long tail(13-17 cm). The weight of an adult representative of an individual ranges from 280 g to 550 g. It is noteworthy that nambat males are somewhat larger than females. The marsupial anteater looks very specific. It has a flattened head, an elongated and slightly pointed muzzle, and a small mouth. The tongue of the animal is worm-like, capable of protruding from the mouth by almost 10 cm. The tail of the nambat resembles a squirrel, it is just as long and fluffy, and also does not have a grasping function. The short paws of the animal are widely spaced. There are 5 fingers on the forelimbs, and 4 on the hind limbs. Nambat has a thick and rather hard hairline of a grayish-brown or reddish color. There are 6 to 12 white or cream stripes on the back and upper thighs.

Currently, the marsupial anteater lives mainly in Western Australia, in its southwestern part. Earlier, before the arrival of Europeans on the continent, their distribution area also included southern part Australia. Nambats inhabit mainly forests in which eucalyptus and acacia grow. You can also meet them in dry woodlands.

The marsupial anteater feeds mainly on termites. In more rare cases, ants are also part of the animal's diet. Nambat can eat up to 20,000 termites daily. The animal swallows its prey whole, and sometimes it only slightly pre-chews the chitinous shell of insects.

Nambat has an extremely acute sense of smell, which helps him in his search for food. A notable feature of the animal is a very deep sleep, reminiscent of hibernation. In addition to the breeding season, nambats prefer a solitary lifestyle. The territory of residence of one animal can reach 150 hectares.

On our selection of photos you can see what the marsupial anteater nambat looks like:

Photo: Nambat.

Video: BBC. Nambats

Video: Numbat - Life in Captivity

Video: Hand-raising Baby Numbats at Perth Zoo

Video: Numbat young

Nambat, or marsupial anteater or striped anteater in another way, is one of the endangered animals of Australia. What does this mammal look like, what is it famous for and why is it endangered?

Nambat is a small animal, its length from the head to the beginning of the tail usually does not exceed 25-30 cm. And the tail reaches a length of about 12-20 cm. Nambat weighs an average of 300 to 700 grams.

Interesting! This marsupial is the emblem of Western Australia. One of his interesting features, unusual for the habits of marsupials - it is active only during the day.

The subspecies has a small and slender body, a pointed narrow muzzle and a lush bushy tail, which is often in an upright position. It has a short, stiff coat that ranges in color from dark gray and reddish brown on the back to light gray and white color on the stomach.

Fact! Despite the fact that the nambat is called an anteater, it feeds on termites. Although it sometimes "bites" with ants.

One of the distinguishing external features- a black stripe with white edges on the face of the animal. This strip extends from ear to ear and passes through the eye area. There are 4-11 white stripes on the back and back of the body. This coloring helps the numbat to go unnoticed in the forest.

Interesting! Nambat has excellent daytime vision, which hardly any other marsupial can boast. But he navigates and hunts mainly by smell.

Habitat

Once upon a time, the Nambats densely populated Western and Southern Australia, as well as parts of New South Wales and Victoria. But by the end of the 1970s, due to the appearance of the European fox in those places, the nambats practically died out in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bits original range.

Now only two natural populations of nambats have survived: in the reserves of Western Australia. Also in Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia, 6 reserves were built, in which the population of this individual was restored.

Important! In the wild, this marsupial can only be found in ordinary and eucalyptus forests. Previously, individuals also lived in other semi-arid habitats (meadows, forest areas with a dry climate and sometimes even in sand dunes.

Nambats can only survive in warm and dry places where there is a sufficient number of termites. Also in such areas of nature there are many natural shelters for animals - for example, fallen trees.

What does the animal eat

Nambat is an insectivorous animal. Despite its name, it most often eats ants "accidentally". The individual's favorite food is termites. An adult animal consumes 15-20 thousand termites daily. By the way, this is about 10% of the mass of his own body.

Another interesting difference nambat from the anteater - he is unable to climb into the minks of termites and dig them out. It can only catch insects on the surface. And all because he does not have such long and powerful claws that would allow him to dig a mound. Therefore, it often prefers to dig shallow passages and wait for insects to crawl to the surface.

Interesting! Nambats are forced to combine the time of their “hunt” with periods of termite activity. In winter, this time is from late morning to noon. And in summer, nambats hide in the hottest time of the day, making sorties only in the morning and late in the evening.