Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) lives in forest across Southwestern Australia. It feeds on termites and ants. Its conservation status is Endangered.
Fascinating facts about the Numbat
- A single adult numbat can devour up to 20,000 termites every day, turning its slender body into a moving termite-vacuum. This relentless appetite fuels both its energy and water needs, because termites are so juicy that the animal can survive the arid Australian outback without drinking any free water. The sheer volume of prey also explains why numbats have evolved a long, sticky tongue and razor-sharp claws to snatch insects from shallow galleries before they retreat back underground.
- Unlike most mammals, the numbat's jaw is "degenerate" with up to 50 tiny, nonfunctional teeth, and it even sports an extra cheek tooth between the premolars and molars, a pattern no other terrestrial mammal shares. This unusual dental formula (4.1.3.1.43.1.4.1.4) reflects its termite-only diet; the blunt pegs are enough to grip soft prey, while the extra tooth may be a retained deciduous molar, highlighting a unique evolutionary tweak for myrmecophagy.
- The numbat sees better than any other marsupial, it has the highest visual acuity among its relatives and a retina packed with cone cells. This sharp daytime vision lets it spot looming predators from a distance, complementing its keen sense of smell and enabling it to hunt efficiently while staying alert in open eucalypt woodlands.
- Fewer than 1,000 numbats remain in the wild, confined to two tiny reserves in Western Australia, but targeted predator-control is turning the tide. After feral-cat exclusion, trap counts in Dryandra Woodland rose from just 5 in 2018 and 10 in 2019 to 35 by November 2020, the highest since the 1990s, showing how removing introduced hunters can quickly boost numbers in a species on the brink.
- Genetic analysis places the numbat on a solitary branch of marsupial evolution: its ancestors split 32 to 42 million years ago, during the late Eocene. The numbat is the sole member of its family, Myrmecobiidae.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSouthwestern Australia
HabitatForest
DietTermites and ants
About the Numbat
In the sun-drenched woodlands of western Australia, the numbat weaves a mesmerizing dance, its striped fur glistening like a kinetic mosaic as it darts between termite mounds with an air of quiet purpose. With each swift, precise movement, this diminutive marsupial embodies a unique harmony of form and function, its long, sticky tongue darting in and out with lightning speed to gather the insects that sustain it. As it navigates its fragile, fire-prone habitat, the numbat's very existence is a testament to the beauty and resilience of life on the brink.
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