potoroo

A rat kangaroo in the genus Potorous. The most primitive and smallest of the kangaroos, they gallop instead of hopping, are the size of a rat, and one of the species has a long, pointed, ratlike snout. There is also a broad-faced species. Called also kangaroo rat.

Potoroos[1]
Potorous platyops
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Infraclass: Marsupialia Order: Diprotodontia Family: Potoroidae Subfamily: Potoroinae Genus: Potorous Desmarest, 1804
Type species
Didelphis murina Cuvier, 1798 (=Didelphis tridactlya Kerr, 1792)
Species
P. gilbertii P. longipes †P. platyops P. tridactylus

A Potoroo is any member of the genus Potorous.

Classification

• SUBORDER MACROPODIFORMES
  • Family Potoroidae
    • Subfamily Potoroinae
      • Genus Potorous
        • Gilbert's Potoroo, Potorous gilbertii
        • Long-footed Potoroo, Potorous longipes
        • †Broad-faced Potoroo, Potorous platyops
        • Long-nosed Potoroo, Potorous tridactylus

References

1. ^ Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 58. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 

External links

• http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66645
• http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Potorous.html
• http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/bioinformatics/mammals/images/longlive.htm

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