Woylie

Woylie
CITES Appendix I
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Potoroidae
Genus: Bettongia
Species:
B. ogilbyi
Binomial name
Bettongia ogilbyi
Waterhouse, 1841
Subspecies
  • B. o. ogilbyi Waterhouse, 1841
  • B. o. sylvatica Newman-Martin, Travouillon, & Warburton, 2025
  • B. o. odontoploica Newman-Martin, Travouillon, & Warburton, 2025
  • B. o. francisca Finlayson, 1957

The woylie or brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia ogilbyi) is a small, near threatened mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is active at night, digging for fungi to eat. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. Once widespread across southern Australia, the woylie mostly died out from habitat loss and introduced predators such as foxes and feral cats. It is currently restricted to two small areas in Western Australia. There are four subspecies: both B. o. ogilbyi, and B. o. sylvatica, are extant and occur in small populations in the southwest, while B. o. odontoploica, and B. o. francisca are extinct.