Perameles bougainuille, Quoy & Gaimard, 1824

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Peramelidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 362-398 : 391

4.

Western Barred Bandicoot

Perameles bougainuille

French: Bandicoot de Bougainville / German: Streifen-Langnasenbeutler / Spanish: Bandicut listado occidental

Other common names: Barred Bandicoot, Little Marl, Marl, Saddle-backed Bandicoot, Shark Bay Striped Bandicoot, West Australian Striped Bandicoot, Zebra Rat

Taxonomy. Perameles bougainville Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 ,

“la presqu’ile Péron [= Peron Peninsula], Shark Bay, Western Australia, Australia.

Extinct form known as the Desert Bandicoot ( P. eremiana), previously considered a subspecies of present species, is now accorded separate species status. Two other subspecies described (myosurus and notina), but recent research does not support recognition of these. Race fasciata named by J. E. Gray in 1841 (S arid and semi-arid regions from Nullarbor, Western Australia, east to western New South Wales and north-western Victoria) now extinct. One extant subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

P. b. bougainville Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 — Bernier I and Dorre I, in Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Nominate race reintroduced to Heirisson Prong and Faure I (Shark Bay) and to the Arid Recovery Project area in South Australia.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 17.3-22.6 cm, tail 8.1-10.6 cm; weight 165-300 g. Females, unusually for peramelids,slightly larger (9-3% heavier) than males. Measurements are for populations on Bernier and Dorre islands; mainland animals (now extinct) were larger. Dorsal fur is gray to fawn-gray, with alternating dark and pale bars running down flanks, while ventralfur, like feet, is white. Ears are long and held erect, and base of tail is sometimes thickened by fat storage. Although similar in appearance to recently extinct Desert Bandicoot, present species has more gray tones in the pelage, a shortertail, and less hairy feet than its desert-dwelling relative.

Habitat. On Bernier and Dorre occupies coastal scrub, low heathland and hummockgrass formations, and may also be active on beaches above the strandline. On mainland, this species was found on sandy and stony soils in dense heathland, open shrubland, open woodland, thickets of Allocasuarina (Casuarinaceae) , and dense forest vegetation in riparian areas. Nest constructed from grass or other locally sourced materials within deep depression that is dug under cover of dense shrubs; only one opening may be present, but flimsy construction of nest allows animals to burst through at any point if disturbed.

Food and Feeding. Insects, other invertebrates, seeds, fruits, and occasionally small vertebrates are eaten, shifts between seasons probably reflecting changes in food availability. Like other peramelids,this species obtainsits food on orjust below the ground surface, digging conical holes to 20-25 cm to obtain buried prey.

Breeding. Females on Bernier and Dorre carry young in wetter winter months between March and October, with breeding apparently initiated by first substantial rains in autumn. Litter size is 1-3 (average 1-8), larger females carrying largest litters. Females produce at least two litters per breeding season, the newly born young attaching to nipples that have not been recently used; eight nipples are present, arranged in a circular pattern. Females achieve sexual maturity at 3-5 months, with maturity in males delayed by a further month. Recruitment after pouch life into adult population is low (0-16-7%), suggesting that post-weaning mortality rates are high. Reproductive events were probably similar in mainland populations of this bandicoot, although some accounts describelitters of 1-4 young being produced between May and August.

Activity patterns. Animals rest by day in their nest and emerge at dusk to begin foraging. Activity continues until dawn in winter, but may cease several hours before daybreak in summer.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Recaptures of animals made during live-trapping studies on Bernier and Dorre islands show that movements over eleven days averaged 185 m for females and 226 m for males. Overnight movements of more than 1 km also have been recorded, but are exceptional. Home range areas appear to vary with population density: at low density home ranges average 14-2 ha for males and 6-2 ha for females, whereas at high density the respective averages are 2-5 ha and 1-4 ha. There is some evidence that home ranges of males overlap more than do those of females. It is not certain how animals maintain their home ranges but, as with most peramelids, individuals nest and forage separately, and fight vigorously if placed in confinement with each other. Longevity of more than four years has been recorded in island populations.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. Mainland race fasciata , once widespread across S Australia, is extinct. Nominate bougainville is restricted to a small fraction ofits former range, which included Dirk Hartog and Faure islands, and extended widely through southern, central, and north-western arid areas of Western Australia. Current population probably fewer than 10,000 mature individuals: combined total of perhaps c.5000 on Bernier and Dorre islands, where considered abundant and numbers appear to be stable; reintroduced populations include minimum of 200 individuals in Heirisson Prong, more than 20 on Faure, and c.40 in Arid Recovery. Declines were probably driven by several interacting processes, including loss and conversion of habitat for agricultural or pastoral usage, changed fire regimes, disease, competition with feral herbivores and, perhaps most importantly, predation by feral cats (Felis catus) and Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes). Despite its gloomy status, the very few sites that now support this bandicoot are protected from predators (three sites in Western Australia are offshore islands; the site in South Australia is a predator-free reserve). All sites are regularly monitored and managed and, in consequence, numbers have increased. Plans are being made to remove the feral cat from several islands off the coast of Western Australia, and this would allow further translocations to take place. Present island populations are not necessarily problemfree. On Bernier, for example, an unknown virus has emerged that causes sometimes fatal carcinomas and papillomas, and genetic diversity is likely to be low. Nonetheless, increases in population size and recognition that this peramelid is not subject to extreme fluctuations in population size have led to recent proposals that the species be more correctly listed as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. Abbott (2006), Ashby et al. (1990), Burbidge et al. (1988), Dickman, Pressey et al. (1993), Finlayson (1961a), Freedman (1967), Friend, J.A. (1990a), Gray (1841), Groves (2005c), Kemper (1990), Legge et al. (2012), Menkhorst & Seebeck (1990), Moseby et al. (2011), Richards (2012b), Short, Richards & Turner (1998), Short, Turner et al. (1997), Smith & Hughes (2008), Westerman & Krajewski (2000), Westerman et al. (2012), Woinarski et al. (2014i, 2014), Woolford et al. (2007).

Figures

On following pages: 3. Northern Brown Bandicoot (/soodon macrourus); 4. Western Barred Bandicoot (Perameles bougainville); 5. Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Perameles gunnii); 6. Long-nosed Bandicoot (Perameles nasuta), 7. Giant Bandicoot (Peroryctes broadbenti); 8. Raffray’s Bandicoot (Peroryctes raffrayana)

Subspecies and Distribution. P. b. bougainville Quoy & Gaimard, 1824 — Bernier I and Dorre I, in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Nominate race reintroduced to Heirisson Prong and Faure I (Shark Bay) and to the Arid Recovery Project area in South Australia.