Predators of golden bandicoots mainly consist of non-native species that were introduced to Australia, such as red foxes and feral cats. Dingos and domestic dogs also prey upon golden bandicoots. Other native predators of golden bandicoots include reptiles such as pythons and monitor lizards, as well as northern quolls, scaley-tailed possoms and rock ringtail possums.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Golden bandicoots are the smallest of the short nosed bandicoots, weighing between 300 and 670 g with measuring on average 350 mm in length. Males are generally larger than females. These marsupials have a compact body, sharp claws and a long nose. Their fur is brownish gold and is streaked with black on the upper and side parts of the body. The abdominal region and feet are a light amber color. The hairs of the fur are very course and stiff. The tail is long and sparsely haired. Golden bandicoots have rounded ears, and their eyes are very dark in color. They have a hunched overall body posture and are rat-like in appearance.
Range mass: 300 to 670 g.
Average length: 350 mm.
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Golden bandicoots have a relatively short life span in the wild, usually between 2 to 3 years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 2 to 3 years.
Golden bandicoots occupy a variety of habitats. They can be found in dry savannah habitats with an acacia or eucalyptus overstory, and they also colonize vine thickets. They occupy coastal scrub areas as well as rainforest margins and sometimes occupy rocky, sandstone and spinifex areas. Historically, golden bandicoots occurred throughout Australia in arid and semi-arid regions.
Habitat Regions: terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: caves
Golden bandicoots, Isoodon auratus, are endemic to Australia. They were historically found throughout the interior of Australia but are currently restricted to very small areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Additional populations exist on Barrow, Middle, Augustus, Marchinbar and Uwins Islands.
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: island endemic
Golden bandicoots perceive their environment in many ways. Because they are nocturnal, they rely heavily on the ability to hear. Golden bandicoots also have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to find prey. They use their whiskers to feel around their environment. Additionally, they can see relatively well in the dark.
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; chemical
Golden bandicoots are considered vulnerable, and populations are decreasing for a variety of reasons. Predation by non-native species, especially by feral cats, is particularly damaging to populations. Golden bandicoots on Barrow and Middle Islands seem to have stable populations because few non-native species occupy these islands. Preventing the spread of feral cats to these islands is important for conservation of this species, especially on Barrow island, where the largest population of golden bandicoots occurs.
Change in fire regimes has also negatively affected populations of bandicoots. Golden bandicoots have no cover after a fire and are easily preyed upon by non-native predators.
In some areas, golden bandicoots also competete with non-native black rats.
CITES: no special status
There are no known adverse affects of golden bandicoots on humans.
Golden bandicoots can control insect populations that are considered pests by humans, such as cockroaches, termites and ants.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Golden bandicoots are important prey items to native and non-native predators. As a result of their diet, they control some insect populations that are considered pests by humans, such as cockroaches, termites and ants. Golden bandicoots also disperse seeds of certain plants they eat.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds
Golden bandicoots are omnivorous. Their diet mainly consists of insects such as termites, ants and other arthropods. They also eat a variety of arachnid species. Golden bandicoots have been known to prey upon turtle eggs and small reptiles. Additionally, they consume plant material, usually consisting of seeds, roots, and tubers.
Animal Foods: reptiles; eggs; insects
Plant Foods: leaves; roots and tubers
Primary Diet: omnivore
Little is known about the mating system of golden bandicoots.
Golden bandicoots breed throughout the year. Males and females mate briefly, and the male disperses after copulation. Gestation lasts about 2 weeks. Once the young are born they attach to one of their mother’s 8 teats inside her pouch. Offspring are very small when born, and litters consist of 2 to 4 individuals. Females nurse their young for about 8 weeks and can begin to mate shortly after the young have weaned. Juveniles become sexually mature around 3 months of age. Golden bandicoots reproduce as many times as they can during their short lives, and there is a significant increase in reproduction during seasons with high rainfall.
Breeding interval: Golden bandicoots can breed every 10 to 12 weeks.
Breeding season: Golden bandicoots breed throughout the year.
Range number of offspring: 2 to 4.
Average gestation period: 2 weeks.
Average weaning age: 8 weeks.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3 months.
Key Reproductive Features: year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Male golden bandicoots disperse after copulation and do not contribute to raising offspring. Females provide milk to their young, which are weaned by 8 weeks of age.
Parental Investment: female parental care ; pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
The golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus; Yolngu: Wan'kurra) is a short-nosed bandicoot found in northern Australia. It is the smallest of its genus.[3]
The golden bandicoot is now a threatened species. It was once found throughout much of northwestern Australia, with even a patch on the New South Wales/South Australia border,[4] but it is now restricted to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and to Augustus, Barrow and Middle Islands off of Western Australia (I. auratus barrowensis) and Marchinbar Island of Northern Territory. It is distinguished from the brown bandicoots by its golden colouring and much smaller size.[3]
Recent genetic evidence suggests that the not only is the golden bandicoot (I. auratus) closely related to the southern brown bandicoot. (I. obesulus), but that they may in fact be the same species.[2][5] Mitochondrial DNA evidence suggests that these two species ought to be grouped into one species with 3 distinct subspecies, I. obesulus obesulus, I. o. peninsulae, and I. o. fusciventer. I. auratus would be included in the I. o. fusciventer subspecies,[6] but these changes have yet to be accepted. These two appear to have been allopatric ever since the Pleistocene, long before the arrival of Europeans.[2] The golden bandicoot is also superficially similar to the relatively common northern brown bandicoot (I. macrourus), but it can be distinguished by its smaller size, the shape of its hairs, and its more elongated head.[7] In the current classification, three subspecies are recognised: I.a. auratus, I.a. arnhemensis, and I.a. barrowensis.[8][7][5]
The largest golden bandicoot population lives on Barrow Island because no cats or foxes have been introduced to the island,[8] and other populations exist on Middle, Marchinbar, Augustus Islands.[2] Small populations on mainland Australia are located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.[8] The golden bandicoot once lived all throughout Central Australia, but by 1992 it had been reduced to a small area in northwest Kimberly and Arnhem Land.[9] In 2000, it was assumed that the species was extinct on the mainland.[2]
In the 1930s, the golden bandicoot was well spread throughout central Australia, but by 1983 the only populations on the mainland remained in the Prince Regent National Park in the Kimberley region. It occurs in stable numbers on Barrow, Middle and Augustus Islands, and by 1995 it was known to live in the Yampi Peninsula in northern Kimberley and Marchinbar Island in the Northern Territory.[8][2] I. a. auratus occurs in the north-western Kimberley and the Augustus and Uwins Islands, I.a. barrowensis occurs on Barrow and Middle Islands off the Pilbara coast, and I. a. arnhemensis has been recorded in Arnhem Land.[7][5]
It is present in the Charnley River–Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.[10]
The golden bandicoot lives in spinifex and tussock grasslands,[8][2] and it used to be widely distributed in arid deserts and the surrounding semi-arid areas as well as tropical forests and woodlands. In Northern Kimberley, it is found along the margins of rainforests lined with sandstone, and in the Yampi Peninsula it inhabits eucalypt woodlands.[8][2] On Augustus and Marchinbar Islands it lives amongst sandstone in hummock grassland and heath or eucalypt woodlands, and on Barrow and Middle Islands it is found in grasslands and coastal shrub. Its range once included the Gibson, Great Sandy, Great Victoria, Little Sandy, and Tanami deserts.[8] It is believed that the golden bandicoot disappeared from the deserts between the 1940s and 1960s.[5]
Individuals have a home range between 12–35 ha (30–86 acres), and the largest golden bandicoot population is on Barrow Island with about 20,000 individuals.[8][2] In fact, it is the most common mammal on the island.[2] On Middle Island it is estimated that there are about 1,000 individuals, and on Marchinbar Island there are roughly 1,400 individuals.[2][11] On mainland Australia, populations are sparse, and most population declines have occurred there.
It averages about 35 cm (14 in) in length from head to tail and weighs 260–655 g (9.2–23.1 oz) with an average of 310 g (11 oz).[8][2][7] It is the smallest of the short-nosed bandicoots with a golden colour back, hence the name, finely streaked with black fur. The sides and face are a faded light rust colour, and the underbelly is pale amber. The feet are the same colour as the underbelly and have sharp claws. The species was first described in 1897 from a specimen collected near Derby, Western Australia.[11] As with most bandicoots, the golden bandicoot has a rather long, flat, pointy nose. It is an omnivore, consuming succulents, insects, plant bulbs, and small reptiles. The golden bandicoot is nocturnal, foraging at night by digging small holes in the ground to find food.[8]
The golden bandicoot is quite rat-like in appearance due to its small body, hunched-over posture, and relatively long tail. The hind limbs are large and muscular compared to the short forelimbs. Each forefoot has three toes with flat claws, used for digging holes when hunting for prey. And, unlike most marsupials, the golden bandicoot has fused toes on its hind feet, forming a comb they use for grooming. All bandicoots in the genus Isoodon have short noses and small, rounded ears, and thus can be distinguished from most other bandicoots, which have longer noses and larger ears. Female golden bandicoots have eight teats in the rear-opening pouch.[9]
Living in hot, semi-arid environments, the golden bandicoot is well adapted to keeping cool. Indeed, it is one of only two extant bandicoot species that are especially suited for arid environments, the other one being the bilby (Macrotis lagotis).[12] Measurements in the laboratory show that the golden bandicoot has a low body temperature that is constantly changing;[12] in this sense it is heterothermic. This allows the internal body temperature to fluctuate in response to extreme environmental temperatures without inhibiting and denaturing necessary proteins. Additionally, it has a low basal metabolic rate, low thermal conductance, and low rate of evaporative water loss.[12] A low metabolic rate correlates to less heat being produced by the body, and a low thermal conductance does not allow the golden bandicoot to capture and store heat well. A highly efficient panting mechanism allows for a low rate of evaporative water loss when cooling the body,[12] conserving precious water. This is an indispensable advantage in arid and dry environments.
The golden bandicoot is nocturnal. During the day, it sleeps in dense vegetation or a hollow tree, making nests out of sticks, leaves, and grass.[8][7][9][13] At night, it actively forages by digging shallow conical pits in the ground to root up succulents (their primary source of water), invertebrates, and plant roots.[7][9][13] Because of this, its vision and sense of smell are highly developed, allowing it to see in low light and detect prey items by smell when digging.[9] The golden bandicoot will also burrow in the soil if the temperature rises in order to keep cool.[13]
Breeding occurs throughout the year and peaks during the wet season (December January) and the dry season (August).[7][13] Amongst marsupials, the golden bandicoot is known to have one of the highest reproductive rates, and it has one of the shortest gestation periods for mammals, only about 12 days.[9][13] There are about 2–3 young per litter, and they remain in the pouch of the mother for up to 8 weeks.[9][13] After this, there is little to no parental care, which allows the golden bandicoot to be such a prolific breeder.[13]
Several factors have contributed to the decline of golden bandicoot numbers throughout the century including introduced species, exotic predators, and loss of habitat. On Middle and Barrow Islands, competition with the introduced black rat (Rattus rattus) reduced golden bandicoot numbers significantly in the 1990s, but the black rat was successfully eradicated from these islands in 1993.[2][14] Since then golden bandicoot numbers have increased five-fold.[2][14] Additional competition comes from various rabbit species.[8][2]
Large birds are the primary, natural predator of the golden bandicoot, but many predatory species have been introduced within its range.[13] The European red fox (Vulpes vulpes), feral cats, and feral dogs all prey upon the golden bandicoot.[8][2][9] When feral cats were introduced to Hermite Island, the golden bandicoot quickly became extinct just before 1912.[2][7][15] On Marchinbar Island, hair samples from the golden bandicoot have been recovered in scat samples from feral dogs, and Aboriginal people have been known to hunt them as well.[2][5]
Changes in fire regions have been cited as another major factor in the decline of the golden bandicoot.[8][2][9] Reduced groundcover due to fires makes the golden bandicoot more exposed to predation,[2] but it has been reported that the golden bandicoot prefers areas that have been burnt relatively recently, as these have fresh new vegetation close to the ground.[5]
A national recovery plan for the golden bandicoot and the golden-backed tree rat (Mesembriomys macrurus ) was established in 2003 for a five-year period between 2004–2009 with three management priorities summarised as follows:[11]
Both the Parks and Wildlife Service and the Gumurr Marthakal Rangers are involved in a collaborative program to monitor existing populations, search for new populations, and look for opportunities to translocate specimen.[5]
The animal, known as Wan'kurra in the Yolngu language,[16] features prominently in song-cycles in the ceremonies of the Gumatj people of Arnhem Land. It is a common motif in the work of artist Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu, often running through scrubland.[17]
The golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus; Yolngu: Wan'kurra) is a short-nosed bandicoot found in northern Australia. It is the smallest of its genus.
The golden bandicoot is now a threatened species. It was once found throughout much of northwestern Australia, with even a patch on the New South Wales/South Australia border, but it is now restricted to the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and to Augustus, Barrow and Middle Islands off of Western Australia (I. auratus barrowensis) and Marchinbar Island of Northern Territory. It is distinguished from the brown bandicoots by its golden colouring and much smaller size.
