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Among the exotic animals, the marsupial anteater is one of the most interesting. This cute small animal is able to eat several thousand termites and ants per day. Hence its name - the marsupial anteater. But this representative of the family of the same name has another name - nambat. The marsupial anteater belongs to mammals, and was described for the first time by the English zoologist George Robert Waterhouse. It happened in 1836, when the scientist studied the unique fauna of a distant Australian continent.
Distribution area
Until the colonization of Australia by Europeans, the nambat was very common on the continent. His settlements were more common in southern and western Australia, right up to the shores of the Indian Ocean.And in the north of the continent, the habitat of this motley marsupial predator stretched far, reaching the south-western regions. But immigrants from Europe brought domestic animals, as well as foxes, to the mainland. All this had a significant impact on the reduction in the number of marsupial anteater. At the same time, the squares where the animal could easily live were reduced.
These days, the nambat is found only in Western Australia. Today it predominantly inhabits eucalyptus forests, as well as places where dry light forest dominates. Interestingly, marsupial anteaters perfectly coexist with koalas, sharing with them one habitat.
External distinguishing characteristics
As noted earlier, the nambat is small in size: for example, the weight of even relatively large individuals does not exceed 500 grams. And the males are much more representatives of the opposite sex. But with such modest dimensions, this small predator has a very original coloring of bright transverse stripes. This feature distinguishes the animal, and makes it the most attractive of the entire Australian fauna.
The second characteristic feature unique to Nambatas is its luxurious, very bushy tail. In an adult animal, it reaches several tens of centimeters in length, making up almost 2/3 of the length of the entire body of the animal.
The anteater's muzzle is very pretty. It is slightly elongated and pointed. The mouth of the predator is small, in which there are about fifty asymmetric weak teeth, which, in principle, does not interfere with the animal to hunt successfully.
It should be said about another anatomical peculiarity of the marsupial anteater, which makes it related to armadillos and other long-lingual representatives of the Australian fauna. This hard palate is relatively longer than that of other mammals.
From the characteristics of the sexual structure, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the female of the marsupial anteater has four papillae.True, she does not have a brood bag. This body replaces the milky field bounded by the edging of curly wool. The fore limbs of the nambat are five-fingered, have sharp claws, which make it possible to have a stable support. The hind legs of the predator are four-fingered.
And at the end of the description of the appearance of this cute little animal I want to stay a little more on the coloring. Strips on the body of the animal are light, mostly white and cream tones, and yellow or ocher shades prevail on the belly.
What kind of life does a nambat lead?
In contrast to many mammals, the marsupial anteater is more inclined to the individual pattern of its existence. Each individual has its own plot, the area of which sometimes reaches up to 150 hectares or more. This territory is the predator's food supply. In general, Nambat loves to live in warmth and comfort. Trying to create for themselves comfortable living conditions, the animal in its hole or hollow pulls a lot of dry foliage and soft grass. In such conditions, he gets enough sleep, and in the morning goes to the extraction of provisions.
Daily activity of a predator is largely dependent on the ambient temperature.Since in the summer, when the soil warms up, all insects hide deep in the ground, the nambat used to start hunting with the rising of the sun. In winter, the animal is active the whole light cycle until dark. But such performance is more typical for females, and males are content with hunting, which lasts no more than 4 hours. The rest of the time, the representatives of the stronger sex prefer to spend in a cozy mink.
Interesting fact! Scientists have found that sleep anteater is more like a state of anabiosis. Due to the fact that the animal literally "falls" into hibernation, he often becomes the prey of larger predators. There were even tragic cases when people burned a dead tree along with the little animals that had fallen asleep in it.
But when the nambat is awake, he deftly escapes from any danger, nimbly climbing trees. Interestingly, if you catch the animal, it does not show aggression and does not bite. The anteater expresses its dissatisfaction with whistling or a kind of grumbling. Many lovers of rare animals tame these cute animals. The marsupial anteater lives in captivity for a relatively long time - up to 6 years.And in the wild, his life is much shorter.
Diet
The marsupial anteater is considered the only animal of its kind, which prefers eating social insects. Mostly it is termites. Other representatives of invertebrates sometimes accidentally fall into his diet. There is information that in a day the nambat can eat up to 20 thousand insects, which is about 10% of the predator's own body weight. It is hardest to get food in the winter, since termites go deep into the ground. Weak claws do not allow the predator to reveal the termite mounds. But when insects are outside their homes, the antsheed easily gets them with the help of their specific language.
Successfully look for insects the animal helps its very fine sense. Nambat swallows its prey entirely, without even bothering to chew on the hard chitinous shell that covers the termites.
Interesting fact! Not only zoologists, but even casual witnesses to the eating of the marsupial anteater, claim that the animal loses its vigilance while eating.Some eyewitnesses of his dinner even tried to take the animal in his arms and stroke it. Against such manifestations of feelings, the anteater did not express the slightest discontent.
Mating season and offspring
Although the time of mating games in anteaters comes at the end of December, in September the males begin to develop a sexual secret that attracts a female. All this period, the males are very active, going in search of a girlfriend, they tend to leave their secret on every bush and tree. But when the meeting does take place, its duration lasts no more than two days.
Number of
As already noted at the beginning of this material, the population of marsupial anteaters is on the verge of extinction. A particularly sharp crisis was noted at the end of the 70s of the twentieth century. Scientists believe that the reduction in the number of these representatives of the rare fauna of Australia is most associated with aggressive human activity, which greatly changed the habitat of these small animals. Currently, the nambat, as an endangered species, is included in the Red Book.
Video: marsupial anteater (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
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