Long-nosed Potoroo

Open encyclopedia reference

The long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) is a small, hopping mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the potoroo and bettong family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night for fungi, roots, or small insects. It is also a marsupial (like kangaroos) and carries its young in a pouch. The long-nosed potoroo is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species such as cats or foxes. There are two subspecies: P. t. tridactylus on mainland Australia, and P. t. apicalis on Tasmania, with lighter fur. At first glance, the long-nosed potoroo with its pointed nose and grey-brown fur looks very much like a bandicoot — that is, until it hops away with its front feet tucked into its chest, revealing its close relationship with the kangaroo family. The long-nosed potoroo exhibits many morphological specializations such as an elongated pointed rostral region (nose), erect ears, large eyes, claws for digging, and long robust hind legs.

Wikipedia contributors, Long-nosed potoroo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:55:07.909812+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Potorous tridactylus (Kerr, 1792)

Name authority

(Kerr, 1792)

Common name

Long-nosed Potoroo

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Diprotodontia

Family

Potoroidae

Genus

Potorous

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. orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
12. suborderMacropodiformes Ameghino, 1889
13. familyPotoroidae Gray, 1821
14. tribePotoroini Gray, 1821
15. genusPotorous Desmarest, 1804
16. speciesPotorous tridactylus (Kerr, 1792)

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 8 records assigned to Potoroidae.

Names & synonyms

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

Documented distribution

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

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=552706 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:6VVC8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.