Bettong

Bettong, species of the genus Bettongia, are potoroine marsupials once common in Australia. They are important ecological engineers displaced during the colonisation of the continent, and vulnerable to the threatening factors such as altered fire regimes, land clearing, pastoralism and the introduced predatory species such as the fox and cat. All species of the genus have been severely affected by ecological changes since the British settlement of Australia, those that have not become extinct became largely confined to islands and protected reserves and are dependent on re-population programs. The diversity of the genus was poorly understood before their extirpation from the mainland, and new taxa has been identified in specimens newly discovered and already held in museum collections. Four extant species are recognised in the work Mammal Species of the World (2005):