What is Numbat?
{{taxobox | name = Numbat <ref name=msw3>{{MSW3|id=10800007}}</ref> | status = EN | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2008|assessors=Friend, T. & Burbidge, A.|year=2008|id=14222|title=Myrmecobius fasciatus|downloaded=8 October 2008}}</ref> | image = Numbat.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Numbat (''Myrmecobius fasciatus'') | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | subclassis = [[Marsupial]]ia | ordo = [[Dasyuromorphia]] | familia = '''Myrmecobiidae''' | genus = '''''Myrmecobius''''' | binomial = ''Myrmecobius fasciatus'' | range_map = Numbat area.png | range_map_caption = Numbat range<br/>(green — native, pink — reintroduced)}} The '''numbat''' (''Myrmecobius fasciatus'') is a [[marsupial]] from open [[woodland]]s in western [[Australia]]. It is also called the '''banded anteater''', because it eats [[termites]]. It is unusual in being one of the few [[diurnal]] (daytime) marsupials. It has no pouch, but the mother carries round her four young on her stomach. At night, they take shelter in hollow logs. The numbat has a life span of 5–6 years under human care. These solitary, long-tailed [[termite]]-eaters are in danger of [[extinction]]; very few remain in the wild. When Europeans arrived, the numbat was found across the [[New South Wales]] and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victorian]] borders west to the [[Indian Ocean]], and as far north as the southwest corner of the [[Northern Territory]]. It was at home in a wide range of woodland and semi[[arid]] [[habitats]]. The deliberate release of the European [[red fox]] in the 19th century wiped out the entire numbat population in Victoria, NSW, [[South Australia]] and the Northern Territory, and almost all numbats in Western Australia, as well. By the late 1970s, the population was well under 1,000 individuals, concentrated in two small areas far from [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]], Dryandra, and Perup. The numbat is the [[emblem]] of Western Australia. ==References== {{wikispecies|Myrmecobius fasciatus}} {{reflist}}