Little bettong

{{Speciesbox | taxon = Bettongia haoucharae | authority = Newman-Martin, Travouillon, & Warburton, 2025 | extinct = yes }}

The '''little bettong''' ('''''Bettongia haoucharae''''') is an extinct potoroid marsupial from southern and central Australia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Newman-Martin |first1=Jake |last2=Travouillon |first2=Kenny J. |last3=Warburton |first3=Natalie |last4=Barham |first4=Milo |last5=Blyth |first5=Alison J. |date=2025-09-05 |title=A taxonomic revision of the Bettongia penicillata (Diprotodontia: Potoroidae) species complex and description of the subfossil species Bettongia haoucharae sp. nov. |url=https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5690.1.1 |journal=Zootaxa |volume=5690 |issue=1 |pages=1–69 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5690.1.1 |pmid=41119736 |issn=1175-5334|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The species is only known from subfossil and mummified remains found throughout the Nullarbor Plain's and Great Victoria Desert. Specific epithet "''haoucharae''" is to honour Dalal Haouchar,<ref name=":0" /> whose work on bettongs revealed genetic differences in samples taken from Nullarbor subfossils.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Haouchar |first1=Dalal |last2=Pacioni |first2=Carlo |last3=Haile |first3=James |last4=McDowell |first4=Matthew C. |last5=Baynes |first5=Alexander |last6=Phillips |first6=Matthew J. |last7=Austin |first7=Jeremy J. |last8=Pope |first8=Lisa C. |last9=Bunce |first9=Michael |date=2016-12-01 |title=Ancient DNA reveals complexity in the evolutionary history and taxonomy of the endangered Australian brush-tailed bettongs (Bettongia: Marsupialia: Macropodidae: Potoroinae) |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1210-y |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |language=en |volume=25 |issue=14 |pages=2907–2927 |doi=10.1007/s10531-016-1210-y |issn=1572-9710|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Extinction == It is unknown what caused the extinction of the little bettong, but based on the timing of its extinction and the decline of similar potoroid species, it is believed to be predation by cats and foxes.<ref name=":0" /> The species has never been collected alive by western science, but was known by Aboriginal peoples to have occurred in central Australia until 1960,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burbidge |first=A. A. |last2=Johnson |first2=K. A. |last3=Fuller |first3=P. J. |last4=Southgate |first4=R. I. |date=1988-01-01 |title=Aboriginal knowledge of the mammals of the central deserts of Australia |url=https://connectsci.au/wr/article/15/1/9/39265/Aboriginal-knowledge-of-the-mammals-of-the-central |journal=Wildlife Research |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=9–39 |doi=10.1071/WR9880009 |issn=1035-3712}}</ref> however these reports could also represent the desert bettong (''Bettongia anhydra'').<ref name=":0" /> The last reports of the little bettong by residents on the Nullarbor occurred during the late 1930s.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=History of the disappearance of native fauna from the Nullarbor Plain through the eyes of long-time resident Amy Crocker |url=Richards, J.D., and Short, J. (1996). History of the disappearance of native fauna from the Nullarbor Plain through the eyes of long-time resident Amy Crocker. The Western Australian Naturalist 21(2): 89–96. |journal=The Western Australian Naturalist}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

haoucharae Category:Mammals described in 2025