Two new bandicoot species discovered after trawling through museum drawers

A ten-year scientific examination of museum specimens has resulted in the discovery of two new bandicoot species and a better understanding of the iconic quenda. Researchers scrutinised hundreds of historical and modern specimens from collections worldwide, leading to the recognition of two additional species within the genus Isoodon, commonly known as short-nosed or brown bandicoots. The findings expanded the known range of the quenda and reshaped comprehension of one of Australia's native mammal groups.

Bandicoots are rabbit-sized marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, identifiable by their long-pointed snouts, large back legs, and short tails. They primarily forage for food through digging with their front paws, and most are omnivores, consuming fungi, roots, insects, and other small invertebrates. Once, there were over 20 living species of bandicoots in Australia and New Guinea, but several have gone extinct since European colonization due to habitat loss, changing fire patterns, and introduced predators.

The short-nosed or brown bandicoots belong to the genus Isoodon, with five known species in Australia and New Guinea. However, the new study revealed that some species classifications might not be accurate. Researchers from the OZ Mammals Genomics initiative compared historical specimens with current museum collections, discovering that existing classifications may not be precise.

This led to the discovery of two new species—the little brown bandicoot (Isoodon microtis), believed to have gone extinct around a century ago, and the New Guinea brown bandicoot (Isoodon moresbyensis), previously considered a subspecies of the northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus).

This research also significantly altered understanding of bandicoot diversity in South Australia. Previously thought to have only one species, the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus), the study found that the state once housed three: the southern brown bandicoot, the newly recognized little brown bandicoot, and the quenda (Isoodon fusciventer). The quenda was once widespread in Western Australia but was also found to have lived in South Australia.