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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Common Dunnart

Sminthopsis murina (Waterhouse, 1838)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Slender-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis murina)

Slender-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis murina)

Greg Tasney · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source

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Open encyclopedia reference

The slender-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis murina), also known as the common dunnart in Australia, is a dasyurid marsupial. It has an average body length of 7 to 12 centimeters (2.8–4.7 in) with a tail length of 5.5 to 13 centimetres (2.2–5.1 in). It weighs 25–40.8 grams for males and 16.5–25.4 grams for females.

Wikipedia contributors, Slender-tailed dunnart; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:39:13.846057+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Sminthopsis murina (Waterhouse, 1838)
Name authority
(Waterhouse, 1838)
Common name
Common Dunnart
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Dasyuromorphia
Family
Dasyuridae
Genus
Sminthopsis
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
  11. orderDasyuromorphia Gill, 1872
  12. familyDasyuridae Goldfuss, 1820
  13. subfamilySminthopsinae Archer, 1982
  14. genusSminthopsis Thomas, 1887
  15. speciesSminthopsis murina (Waterhouse, 1838)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Sminthopsis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Fat-tailed DunnartSminthopsis crassicaudata (Gould, 1844)DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Little Long-tailed DunnartSminthopsis dolichura Kitchener, Stoddart & Henry, 1984DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Julia Creek DunnartSminthopsis douglasi Archer, 1979DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
White-tailed DunnartSminthopsis granulipes Troughton, 1932DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Gray-bellied DunnartSminthopsis griseoventer Kitchener, Stoddart & Henry, 1984DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Greater Hairy-footed DunnartSminthopsis hirtipes Thomas, 1898DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
White-footed DunnartSminthopsis leucopus (Gray, 1842)DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Ooldea DunnartSminthopsis ooldea Troughton, 1965DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Kangaroo Island DunnartSminthopsis aitkeni Kitchener, Stoddart & Henry, 1984DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Chestnut DunnartSminthopsis archeri Van Dyck, 1986DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Kakadu DunnartSminthopsis bindi Van Dyck, Woinarski & Press, 1994DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Butler's DunnartSminthopsis butleri Archer, 1979DasyuridaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 67 records assigned to Dasyuridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Phascogale murina Waterhouse, 1838 Waterhouse, 1838synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Australia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552649 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4XWZJ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.