Macrotis: Difference between revisions

'''''Macrotis''''' is a genus of desert-dwelling [[marsupial]] omnivores known as '''bilbies''' or '''rabbit-bandicoots''';<ref name=MW>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Thylacomys}} Unabridged {{subscription required}}</ref> they are members of the order [[Peramelemorphia]]. At the time of [[History of Australia|European colonisation]] of [[Australia]], there were two species. The [[lesser bilby]] became extinct in the 1950s; the [[greater bilby]] survives but remains endangered. It is currently listed as a vulnerable species. The greater bilby is on average {{convert|55|cm|abbr=on}} long, excluding the tail, which is usually around {{convert|29|cm|abbr=on}} long. Its fur is usually grey or white; it has a long, pointy nose and very long ears, hence the reference of its nickname to [[rabbit]]s.

The placement of the population within taxonomic classification has changed in recent years. Vaughan (1978){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} and Groves and Flannery (1990){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} both placed this family{{which|date=December 2015}} within the family [[Peramelidae]]. Kirsch et al. (1997){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} found them to be distinct from the species in [[Peroryctidae]] (which is now a subfamily in Peramelidae). McKenna and Bell (1997){{full citation needed|date=December 2015}} also placed it in Peramelidae, but as the sister of ''[[Pig-footed bandicoot|Chaeropus]]'' in the subfamily Chaeropodinae.<ref>{{MSW3 Groves|pages=38|id=10900003|heading=Macrotis}}</ref>