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Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae / n oʊ t ə ˈ r ɪ k t ɪ d iː / family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found in the Australian interior. [2] They are small burrowing marsupials that anatomically converge on fossorial placental mammals, such as extant golden moles (Chrysochloridae) and extinct epoicotheres ().
Weighing just 40-60 grams (1.4-2.1 ounces), “marsupial moles have such modest oxygen requirements that they subsist by breathing the air that flows between sand grains,” Benshemesh wrote.
The southern marsupial mole (Notoryctes typhlops), also known as the itjaritjari (pronounced [ˈɪɟɐrɪɟɐrɪ]) or itjari-itjari, [3] [4] is a mole-like marsupial found in the western central deserts of Australia. It is extremely adapted to a burrowing way of life. It has large, shovel-like forepaws and silky fur, which helps it move easily.
The Australian animals resemble species known as moles, burrow building mammals found in other continents, and were collectively referred to as 'marsupial moles'. The regional names for the well known animals, established before their published descriptions, are used to refer to the species.
The northern marsupial mole or kakarratul (Notoryctes caurinus) is a marsupial in the family Notoryctidae, an endemic animal of arid regions of Central Australia. It lives in the loose sand of dunes and river plains in the desert, spending nearly its entire life beneath ground. [ 3 ]
As marsupials, these moles are even more distantly related to true talpid moles than golden moles are, both of which belong to the Eutheria, or placental mammals. This means that they are more closely related to such existing Australian marsupials as kangaroos or koalas , and even to a lesser extent to American marsupials, such as opossums ...
The remainder of the Dasyuridae are referred to as "marsupial mice"; most weigh less than 100 grams (3 + 1 ⁄ 2 oz). There are two species of marsupial mole — order Notoryctemorphia — that inhabit the deserts of Western Australia. These rare, blind, earless carnivores spend most of their time underground; little is known about them.
Dasyuromorphia (/ d æ s i j ʊər oʊ ˈ m ɔːr f i ə /, meaning "hairy tail" [2] in Greek) is an order comprising most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the extinct thylacine.