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Animal Age

How old does a Northern bettong get? (age expectancy)

What is the maximal age a Northern bettong reaches?

An adult Northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) usually gets as old as 7 years.

Northern bettongs are around 19 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 8.35 kg (18.41 lbs) and measure 3.6 cm (0′ 2″). As a member of the Potoroidae family (genus: Bettongia), their offspring is 1 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 1.6 meter (5′ 3″).

As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.

A Northern bettong gets as old as 7 years

The northern bettong (Bettongia tropica) is a small potoroid marsupial which is restricted to some areas of mixed open Eucalyptus woodlands and Allocasuarina forests bordering rainforests in far northeastern Queensland, Australia. They are known as “rat kangaroos” and move about in a slow hopping manner. There are five different species in Australia of this particular animal. It is about the size of a rabbit with a large tail dragging behind.Lifespan:The typical bettong lives in the wild for about 4 to 6 years. This is a very short life span, but according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoologist, they can, under proper care, live up to the age of 15 years.The most common bettong is the Rufous Bettong and are found along the eastern coast of Australia.Behavior of the bettong:All species of the bettong are nocturnal. They carry nesting materials with their long tails and can be found in underground borrows that they escape to during the day. They like to feed at night and their range of food varies. They rarely drink water, and refrain from eating any green plants. They primarily seek fungus based plants such as mushrooms, tubers, scrubs, fruits and seeds. They use their front claws to dig for tubers identifying them via their sense of smell. These animals are able to reproduce at any time of the year, and can produce three young in a favorable year. This high rate of reproduction can lead to fluctuations in population growth.Threats:The bettong is a solitary and faces major threats. From land clearing they have experienced an extreme loss of habitat. Vast expansion in agriculture has caused a major threat in its food sources. It spends the day in a well concealed nest constructed beneath a tree, within a clump of grass or in other litter collected at ground level. Nesting material is carried using its prehensile tail. Ectomycorrhizal fungal sporocarps are the staple diet of the northern bettong. These are dug from beneath the soil at the bases of trees, and work to date suggests substantial nightly movements are often required to detect this irregularly-distributed food source. Other foods in the diet include grass roots and tubers, lilies, herbs, and sedges. The northern bettong appears to breed all year round, and like other relatives of the kangaroos, the joey is carried in a pouch until it is old enough to follow the mother as a ‘young-at-foot’.The northern bettong is an endangered animal, and only populates three regions of Queensland, Australia, Davies Creek, Emu Creek and Tinaroo Creek all of which are within 80 miles of each other.

Animals of the same family as a Northern bettong

Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Potoroidae):

Animals that reach the same age as Northern bettong

With an average age of 7 years, Northern bettong are in good companionship of the following animals:

Animals with the same number of babies Northern bettong

The same number of babies at once (1) are born by:

Weighting as much as Northern bettong

A fully grown Northern bettong reaches around 1.26 kg (2.77 lbs). So do these animals: