Potoroidae

Potoroidae[1] Temporal range: Template:Temporal range Pal. Eocene Oligo. Miocene P P
Clockwise from top-left: Woylie, Gilbert's potoroo, Desert rat-kangaroo, and Rufous rat-kangaroo
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Superfamily:	Macropodoidea
Family:	Potoroidae Gray, 1821
Type genus
Potorous Desmarest, 1804
Genera
†Bulungamaya? †Gumardee? †Ngamaroo? †Purtia? †Wakiewakie? Bettonginae Bensley, 1903 Aepyprymnus Bettongia †Borungaboodie Caloprymnus †Milliyowi Palaeopotoroinae? Flannery & Rich, 1986 Palaeopotorous Potoroinae Gray, 1821 Potorous
Potoroidae distribution

Potoroidae is a family of small marsupials from Australia. These animals are called bettongs, potoroos, and rat-kangaroos. They are about the size of rabbits, brown in color, and hop like kangaroos. They look like big rodents or very small wallabies.

Potoroids are smaller relatives of kangaroos and wallabies. They might be the ancestors of these bigger animals. Their teeth are simpler than kangaroos' teeth. Potoroids have longer front teeth (incisors), bigger canine teeth, and molars with four points.^[2] Both potoroids and kangaroos have a big gap between their front teeth and cheek teeth. Their dental formula (the number of different teeth) is similar. They have:

• Upper teeth: 3 incisors, 0 canines, 1 premolar, 2 molars, 4 cusps
• Lower teeth: 1 incisor, 0 canines, 2 premolars, 4 molars

Potoroids are like small wallabies in many ways. Their back feet are long, and they move by hopping. But their hopping is not as strong as in wallabies. When moving slowly, they use their front legs to walk, like rabbits do.

Potoroids mostly eat plants. They like many kinds of plants, but they especially like fungi (mushrooms). They often eat fungi when other food is hard to find in the dry Australian bush. For example, the long-footed potoroo eats mostly underground fungi.^[3] Because of this, it needs to live in moist places with thick plants to hide from predators like foxes and wild cats.

In the past, animals in the Potoroidae family were very common. They helped keep the soil healthy by digging for fungi and other food underground. This digging made the soil soft and easy to work with. They were important for the plants that grow under the trees.

There are four kinds of bettongs alive today, but two kinds have become extinct. Bettongs became endangered because people took away much of their homes, and because red foxes, which were brought to Australia, hunted them. Long ago, many kinds of bettongs lived all over Australia. Now, the Tasmanian bettong only lives in the eastern part of Tasmania. The northern bettong lives in just three small groups in northern Queensland.

The potoroids show how much the environment has changed since people came to Australia. Most species have disappeared from the places they used to live. Some are completely extinct, while others survive only in small protected areas or through programs that help bring them back.^[3]

The Potoroidae family is a basic branch of the macropods,^[3] which are a group of marsupials that includes kangaroos and wallabies. There are three living genera (groups) in the Potoroidae family, and together they have eight species.^[1][4]

Scientists have studied how these animals are related and have organized them into subfamilies within Potoroidae. In the past, some studies placed them in the larger kangaroo family (Macropodidae), and genetic research has supported this idea too.

A careful way to organize both living and fossil species in this family can be summarized:^[5][6]

• family Potoroidae
  • subfamily †Palaeopotoroinae
    • genus †Palaeopotorous
  • subfamily Potoroinae
    • genus †Borungaboodie
    • genus †Milliyowi
    • genus †Purtia
    • genus †Wakiewakie
    • genus †Gumardee
    • tribe Bettongini
      • genus Aepyprymnus
      • genus Bettongia
      • genus †Caloprymnus
    • tribe Potoroini
      • genus Potorous
  • subfamily †Bulungamayinae
    • genus †Bulungamaya
    • genus †Wabularoo
    • genus †Wanburoo
    • genus †Nowidgee
    • genus †Ganguroo

• ARKive - images and movies of the burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur)
• "Potoroidae". Atlas of Living Australia.
• DPIWE information on the Tasmanian Bettong
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Species Profile
• Australian Faunal Directory