Numbat

The numbat is a small carnivorous marsupial from Australia, and the only member of the family Myrmecobiidae. It is a specialised termite-eater and is easily recognised by its slender, graceful body and short, stiff hair which is reddish-brown with black and white stripes across its back and rump. This marsupial has a long, hairy tail, which is often erected to give a bottle-brush appearance. Its snout is narrow and pointed, allowing it to get its tongue into narrow crevices, and it has a striking white-bordered dark stripe through each eye. Males, females and juveniles are all similar in appearance. Indeed, it is difficult to mistake the numbat for anything else because of its distinctive appearance and because the numbat is the only Australian mammal that is solely active during the day. Unlike most marsupials the numbat is active during the day, reflecting the behaviour patterns of termites, spending most of its active hours searching for food. It is the only marsupial that strictly feeds on social insects, and consumes 20,000 per day, the equivalent to ten percent of its body weight. The numbat walks with its nose to the ground, sniffing and turning over small pieces of wood in search of shallow underground termite galleries. On finding a gallery it squats on its hind legs and digs rapidly with its clawed forefeet, licking up the termites with its long, thin tongue. Some ants are also eaten, but research shows that most are predatory ants that rush in when numbats uncover a termite nest, indicating that they are lapped up accidentally with the termites, rendering its other name, the banded anteater, some-what misleading.