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 It might be outdated or ideologically biased.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.

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References in periodicals archive

What type of marsupial is a numbat? 1993; 9 Dryden; John 8 Cecilia; St 7 Germany; East 6 anteater; banded A5 tomb; empty An 4 tremens; Delirium 3 Yellow; 2 Blanc; Mel 1 ANSWERS: 1993; 9 Dryden; John 8 Cecilia; St 7 Germany; East 6 anteater; banded A5 tomb; empty An 4 tremens; Delirium 3 Yellow; 2 Blanc; Mel 1 ANSWERS: Swansea; 9 Ginger; 8 Clown; AOf Tears The 7 Beachcomber; 6 herring; The 5 Seven; 4 reverse; and obverse The 3 Amontillado; 2 Earthquakes; 1 ANSWERS: Pie.

Quiz of the Day Quiz of the Day 1. Which actor createdQuiz of the Day 1. Which actor created 1. Which actor created theQuiz of the Day

** MILLER, David Rufus The Numbat Ford St, 2010 unpaged $24.95 ISBN 9781876462963 SCIS 1464574

Miller, David: Rufus The Numbat

From the imprint page where we spy koala with his towel and numbat with his rubber duckie obviously heading for the bathtub it is obvious we are in for a frivolous romp of monumental proportions from this master storyteller.

Fox, Mem & Olivia Rawson (text) Kerry Argent (illus.): A Giraffe in the Bath

(You may have guessed I have just spent a trying day babysitting!) The evocative illustrations draw on items immediately recognizable by small babies from the crustacean at the beach to the soft-toy numbat. The lasting impression is of a loved and loveable baby--just the way it ought to be.

Smith, Craig (illus.) Mike Dumbleton (text): What Will Baby Do?

There are also the last surviving numbats, native marsupials that live off a diet of forest floor termites.

ON TV; PICK of the DAY

Now is the time to act before it's too late." Rosy-cheeked Palm Cockatoos, fluffy numbats and shy legless lizards can't travel to Parliament House to ask for protection.

Thousands of missing creature alerts lodged: a Senate extinction inquiry launched: RIGHT ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE ACF COMMUNITY LODGED THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF MISSING CREATURE ALERTS WITH THEIR LOCAL MPS. THE ACTION HELPED SPARK A SENATE INQUIRY INTO AUSTRALIA'S UNFOLDING EXTINCTION CRISIS

Dingo won't say, so the others follow along in hot Pursuit--two nosy numbats, three flying frogs, four burrowing bilbies ...

The little Big Book Club: implementing an aboriginal perspective in the classroom

In addition, the morphological traits exhibited in these Pilbara rock art images preclude them from being representation of other striped-backed fauna, such as numbats.

Dating the Dreaming: extinct fauna in the petroglyphs of the Pilbara region, Western Australia

These include the aardwolves of Africa, the aardvarks ("ground pig" in Afrikaans) and the pangolins of Africa and Asia, and the numbats and echidnas, primitive egg-laying mammals of Australia.

The allure of anteaters: attracting increased attention from scientists and the general public alike, these endearing creatures are "ambassadors" for wildlife conservation and research

"Bums are also crucial to numbats, for they sleep in hollow logs and stuff their bottoms in the end like a cork so predators can't pull them out." During the filming of The Life Of Mammals, Sir David experienced another real magic moment.

TV preview; A happy birth day for David; First film of a baby platypus

This baiting has led to spectacular recoveries of populations of woylies (a small, scarce wallaby species), numbats, chuditch (marsupial cats), possums and carpet pythons.

Cunning contraceptions