Quenda
The quenda (Isoodon obesulus fusciventer), also known as the western brown bandicoot, is a small marsupial species endemic to South Western Australia.
| Quenda | |
|---|---|
| Quenda digging for arthropods. Beeliar Regional Park, Bibra Lake. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Peramelemorphia |
| Family: | Peramelidae |
| Genus: | Isoodon |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | I. o. fusciventer |
| Trinomial name | |
| Isoodon obesulus fusciventer (Gray, 1841) | |
Though it is currently treated as a subspecies of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus), such as by the IUCN where it is given the status of least concern, a 2018 paper proposed to raise it to species rank due to molecular and morphological analysis which revealed it was more closely related to the golden bandicoot (Isoodon auratus).
It is currently recognised as a separate species by ASM, AFD, ALA.
Quenda are one of the few native marsupials that can still be seen in Perth's urban bushland reserves. They are vulnerable to predation by feral foxes and cats and Quenda populations can recover where predators are controlled.