numbat

numbat

a small Australian marsupial, Myrmecobius fasciatus, having a long snout and tongue and strong claws for hunting and feeding on termites: family Dasyuridae

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Numbat

 

(Myrmecobius fasciatus), also the banded anteater, a marsupial of the family Echidnidae. The length of the body is 17–27 cm, and the length of the tail is 13–17 cm. The body is grayish brown with white transverse stripes on the back. There is no pouch. The wormlike, sticky tongue is up to 10 cm long. The numbat is distributed in western and southwestern Australia. It dwells in open deserts and eucalyptus forests. The numbat is active during the day; at night it takes shelter in the grass or in fallen tree hollows. It feeds primarily on termites. The numbat reproduces once a year. A litter contains four young, which hold onto the thick fur of the mother’s belly. As a result of the clearing of lands, numbats are sharply declining in number.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.