Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot (Yarala burchfieldi)
Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot.
Illustration: Copyright © A Musser.
Lived: 23-16 million years ago (early Miocene)
Size: Length (head to tail): about 45cm
Description: The Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot has a long, narrow skull. It may have used its long nose to forage in the forest leaf litter for insects and fruit.
The closest living relatives of the Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot are the peramelid ('ordinary') and peroryctid (forest) bandicoots.
Fossils: Fossils of the Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot include a skull and many other bones and individual teeth, all found at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland.
Did you know?: The skull of the Riversleigh Tube-nosed Bandicoot is one of the most perfectly preserved bandicoot fossils known.
