Kakadu Dunnart
They were first described in 1994 and whose closest relative is the Carpentarian dunnart. It typically has a body length of 50-85mm with a tail 60-105mm long, for a total length between 110-190mm. It weighs between 10-25g, placing it in the mid-range of dunnarts. Its colour is grey, gingery on the upper body and underbelly, with white feet.
Habitat
They live near the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia around the Kakadu National Park. It prefers a habitat of stony woodlands on a hilly geography. It is restricted to the monsoonal tropics of the Northern Territory mainland, in a relatively small area from Bradshaw (near the Western Australian border) to western Arnhem Land including the sandstone plateau at Wongalara Wildlife Sanctuary. The majority of the relatively few records are from Kakadu National Park
Diet
The diet includes a range of invertebrates, arthropods, insects and probably small vertebrates.
Breeding
Little is known about the social organisation or breeding habits of this species, as it is not well studied, but it probably breeds in the dry season and may burrow.
Population
According to IUCN Red List they are considered as Near Threatened(NT) and their population is decreasing and the amount of mature individuals is 9,000-20,000 but there has been no robust estimate of the total population size, nor that of any of its subpopulations. It is considered rare.
Threats
There is little available information on threats and their impacts. It is likely that habitat suitability is decreased by the current regime of frequent and extensive fires. Predation by feral cats may also be a threat. It is possible that the species may also be poisoned in predation attempts on Cane Toads, but there is no evidence to support or refute this possibility. Other small dasyurids have been shown to learn to avoid toads.
Conservation
Much of its range occurs within conservation reserves, where some threats are managed by Parks Australia (Kakadu NP), the Parks and Wildlife Commission Northern Territory (Litchfield NP) and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (Wongalara). At Wongalara, fire is intensively managed and livestock and feral stock have been removed from that part of the property with most suitable habitat for the Kakadu Dunnart.