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Dibbler

For the Discworld character see Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler; for the garden tool see Dibber

Dibbler
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Subfamily: Dasyurinae
Tribe: Dasyurini
Genus: Parantechinus
Tate, 1947
Species:
P. apicalis
Binomial name
Parantechinus apicalis
(J. E. Gray, 1842)
Dibbler range
(blue — native, pink — reintroduced)

The dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) is a small marsupial that is endangered. It lives in the southwest part of Western Australia and on some nearby islands. It belongs to the group Dasyuromorphia and is the only species in its genus Parantechinus. The dibbler is a small, nocturnal meat-eater with speckled fur and white fur around its eyes.

Description

A preserved dibbler at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, England.

The dibbler is 10–16 cm (3.9–6.3 in) long, with a tail 7.5–12 cm (3.0–4.7 in) long. It weighs between 40–125 g (1.4–4.4 oz). It has a white ring around its eyes, gray-brown fur with white spots, and a short, thin tail. It has strong jaws and big sharp teeth to catch and kill prey like mice, birds, lizards, insects, and other small animals. Dibblers can also climb trees a little and eat nectar from flowers and berries. They breed from March to April, and females can have up to eight babies. Dibblers live alone and are mostly active at dawn and dusk.

Where they live

Dibblers live in southwestern Western Australia. They are found on Boullanger Island, Whitlock Island, and Escape Island near Jurien Bay (where they were moved to).[2] They also live on the south coast in places like Fitzgerald River National Park, Peniup Proposed Nature Reserve (where they were brought back), and Gunton Island in the Recherche Archipelago (also brought back). Recently, they were released on Dirk Hartog Island as part of a conservation project called "Return to 1616". There were attempts to release them in Stirling Range National Park and Waychinicup National Park, but they probably do not live there anymore. One was also caught in Torndirrup National Park, south of Albany.

The dibbler lives in areas with thick plants and sandy soil that have not been burned. They usually live in coastal mallee-heath plant communities on the south coast.

Taxonomy

Classification

The dibbler is the only animal in its genus called Parantechinus. The name means it is like an "antechinus."[3] The species name, apicalis, means "pointed." This group used to include another animal called the sandstone false antechinus, but that one is now in a different genus called Pseudantechinus.

The genus Parantechinus has only one species, the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis). It was first described in 1842 by John Edward Gray, who put it in a different group called Phascogale. He knew the animal came from Australasia. In 1947, George Henry Hamilton Tate created the group Parantechinus just for the dibbler. The dibbler was also once placed in the genus Antechinus before it got its own genus. Scientists are still studying how these groups in the family Dasyuridae are related, and the exact relationships are not yet clear.[4]

Common name

The name "dibbler" is used by the government, scientists, and the public to refer only to this species.[5][6][7][8] Some common names come from older ways of classifying the animal. John Gould used several names from the Noongar language: Marn-dern and Wy-a-lung from northern areas, and Dib-bler from the King George Sound region. Using traditional names has helped keep the name "dibbler." Gould also called it the freckled antechinus,[4] and it has been called the speckled marsupial mouse.

In 2009, the online book Mammal Species of the World used the name Southern dibbler.[9] Another species called the Northern (or sandstone) dibbler, Pseudantechinus bilarni, lives in the Northern Territory. The name Southern dibbler is used for P. apicalis in The Mammals of Australia (2008),[10] which is an important guide for naming Australian mammals.

Conservation status

In the early 1800s, dibblers lived widely across Western Australia. By 1884, they were thought to be extinct. But some were found again in 1967 at Cheyne Beach on the southern coast of Western Australia. Dibblers are now endangered because they lose their homes due to land clearing and disease, and because of predators like wild foxes and cats.

Perth Zoo in Western Australia runs a conservation project to help dibblers survive and breed. Together with the Department of Environment and Conservation, the project has helped breed dibblers and release more into the wild.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Burbidge, A.A.; Woinarski, J. (2016). "Parantechinus apicalis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016 e.T16138A21944584. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T16138A21944584.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press. p. 58.
  3. ↑ Woolley, P.A. (1995). "Southern Dibbler". In Strahan, Ronald (ed.). The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books. pp. 72–73.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Friend, Tony (2003). "Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) Recovery Plan" (PDF). Dibbler Recovery Team. Department of Conservation and Land Management (DEC). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  5. ↑ Bencini, R., McCulloch, C., Mills, H.R., Start, A.N., 2001. Habitat and diet of the dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) on two small islands in Jurien Bay, Western Australia. Wildlife Research 28, 465–468.
  6. ↑ Fuller, P.J., Burbidge, A.A., 1987. Discovery of the Dibbler, Parantechinus apicalis, on islands at Jurien Bay. The Western Australian Naturalist 16, 177–181.
  7. ↑ Miller, S., Bencini, R., Mills, H., Moro, D. Food availability for the dibbler, Parantechinus apicalis, on Boullanger and Whitlock Islands, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology (in press).
  8. ↑ Mills, H.R., Bencini, R., 2000. New evidence for facultative male dieoff in island populations of dibblers, Parantechinus apicalis. Australian Journal of Zoology 48, 501–510.
  9. ↑ Groves, Colin (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
  10. ↑ The Mammals of Australia 3rd Ed. 2008. Reed New Holland. Edited by Steve Van Dyck & Ronald Strahan. ISBN 978-1-877069-25-3
  11. ↑ "Endangered Dibblers destined for Dirk Hartog Island National Park, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions". www.dbca.wa.gov.au. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 2025-02-07.
  12. ↑ "Dibbler Breeding Program". Perth Zoo.

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