Bettong

{{Short description|Genus of marsupials}} {{Automatic Taxobox | name = Bettongs<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3 Groves|pages=57–58}}</ref> | image = Bettongia gaimardi.jpg | image_caption = Eastern bettong | taxon = Bettongia | authority = J. E. Gray, 1837 | type_species = ''Bettongia setosa'' | type_species_authority = J. E. Gray, 1837<br />(= ''Kangurus gaimardi'' Desmarest, 1822) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''B. gaimardi'' * ''B. lesueur'' * ''B. ogilbyi'' * "B. penicillata" * ''B. tropica'' | display_parents = 2 }}

'''Bettongs''', species of the genus '''''Bettongia''''', are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecosystem engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and are vulnerable to threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat.

== Conservation status == All species of the genus have been severely affected by ecological changes since the European colonisation of Australia. Those that have not become extinct became largely confined to islands and protected reserves and are dependent on re-population programs. The diversity of the genus was poorly understood before their extirpation from the mainland, and new taxa have been identified in specimens newly discovered and already held in museum collections.<ref name="Prideaux2015" /> In August 2021, 40 bettongs were released in different parts of South Australia after being raised in captivity to increase their numbers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2021/08/22/bettongs-back-in-south-australia/amp/|title = Endangered bettongs return to SA after more than a century}}</ref>

== Taxonomy == Four extant species are recognised:

* Eastern bettong (''B. gaimardi'') * Boodie (''B. lesueur'') * Woylie (''B. ogilbyi'') * Northern bettong (''B. tropica'')<ref name="Wakefield1967">{{cite journal |last1=Wakefield |first1=N.A. |title=Some taxonomie revision in the Australian marsupial genus Bettongia (Macropodidae), with description of a new species |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |date=1967 |volume=84 |pages=8–22 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/146535}}</ref> The recently extinct species are:

*Desert bettong (''B. anhydra''). Only known from one specimen collected in the Tanami in 1933 and subfossil material from the Nullarbor. The causes of extinction are presumed to be predation by feral cats and foxes, and changes to the fire regime.<ref>{{cite iucn|title=''Bettongia anhydra''|article-number=e.T71510353A71510399|author=Burbidge, A.A.|year=2016|access-date=2 June 2024|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T71510353A71510399.en|author2=Zichy-Woinarski, J.|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> *Nullarbor dwarf bettong (''B. pusilla''). Known only from subfossil remains but considered to have survived until European settlement.<ref name="iucnnullarborbettong">{{cite iucn|title=''Bettongia pusilla''|article-number=e.T136805A21960843|author=Burbidge, A.A.|date=2016|volume=2016|access-date=26 April 2022|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T136805A21960843.en|author2=Woinarski, J.}}</ref> *Brush-tailed bettong (''B. penicillata''). Previously a senior synonym of the Woylie (''B. ogilbyi''), it was recently split.<ref name="Newman-Martin-2025">{{Cite journal |last=Newman-Martin |first=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 |issn=1175-5334|url-access=subscription }}</ref> *Little bettong (''B. haoucharae''). Known from subfossil and mummified remains from the Nullarbor Plain's and Great Victoria Desert.<ref name="Newman-Martin-2025" />

The fossil species is:

* ''Bettongia moyesi'', Middle Miocene bettong from Riversleigh<ref>Flannery, T.F. and Archer, M, 1987. Bettongia moyesi, a new and plesiomorphic kangaroo (Marsupialia: Potoridae) from Miocene sediments of northwestern Queensland. 'Possums and Opossums: Studies in Evolution', Pp.759–67. ed. M. Archer. Surrey Beatty & Sons and the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Sydney [http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/research/files/!Flannery%20&%20Archer%20(1987)%20Bettongia%20moyesi,%20A%20NEW%20AND%20PLESIOMORPHIC%20KANGAROO%20%20(MARSUPIALIA%20POTOROIDAE)%20FROM%20MIOCENE%20SEDIMENTS%20OF%20NORTHWESTERN%20QUEENSLAND.pdf pdf]</ref> The phylogeny of the genus has seen a grouping of 'brush-tailed' taxa allied within the genus ''Bettongia'', and this includes the extant species ''Bettongia gaimardi'', ''B. tropica'' and ''B. penicillata''.<ref name="Prideaux2015" />

A conservative arrangement of modern and fossil taxa of ''Bettongia'' may be summarised as<ref name="Claridge2007" />

* family '''Potoroidae''':

:* subfamily †Bulungamayinae :* subfamily †Palaeopotoroinae :* subfamily Potoroinae ::* genus ''Aepyprymnus'' ::* genus '''''Bettongia''''' :::* species †''Bettongia anhydra'' :::* species ''Bettongia gaimardi'' :::* species ''Bettongia lesueur'' :::* species †''Bettongia moyesi'' :::* species ''Bettongia ogilbyi'' :::* species †''Bettongia penicillata'' :::* species †''Bettongia haoucharae'' :::* species †''Bettongia pusilla'' :::* species ''Bettongia tropica'' ::* genus †''Milliyowi'' ::* genus †''Caloprymnus'' ::* genus ''Potorous'' ::* genus †''Purtia'' ::* genus †''Wakiewakie'' ::* genus †''Gumardee''

The species ''Aepyprymnus rufescens'' is referred to as the rufous bettong,<ref name="Menkhorst2011" /> despite not being a member of the genus ''Bettongia''.

==See also== * Kangaroo rat – a heteromyid rodent of North America

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Prideaux2015">{{cite journal |last1=Prideaux |first1=G.J. |last2=Baynes |first2=A. |last3=Bunce |first3=M. |last4=Aplin |first4=K.P. |last5=Haouchar |first5=D. |last6=McDowell |first6=M.C. |title=Morphological and molecular evidence supports specific recognition of the recently extinct Bettongia anhydra (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=25 April 2015 |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=287–296 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/gyv006 |url=https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/96/2/287/900930 |language=en |issn=0022-2372|doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.11937/10145 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> <ref name="Menkhorst2011">{{cite book |last1=Menkhorst |first1=P.W. |last2=Knight |first2=F. |author-link1=Peter Menkhorst |author2-link=Frank Knight |title=A field guide to the mammals of Australia |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Melbourne |isbn=978-0-19-557395-4 |page=106 |edition=3rd}}</ref> <ref name="Claridge2007">{{cite book |last1=Claridge |first1=A.W. |last2=Seebeck |first2=J.H. |last3=Rose |first3=R. |title=Bettongs, potoroos, and the musky rat-kangaroo |date=2007 |publisher=CSIRO Pub |location=Collingwood, Victoria |isbn=978-0-643-09341-6 |page=25 }}</ref> }}

Category:Marsupial genera Category:Marsupials of Australia Category:Bettongia Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray