This is a painting of the southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus) which is a type of marsupial found mostly in southern Australia. Bandicoots may be confused with the slightly larger Potoroos, but the latter can be differentiated by their thick 'wallaby-like' tails.
Let me tell you some facts about this cute guy…
Bandicoots have a stocky body with a short snout and short rounded ears. On average males measure 50cm in total length and 1.2kg in weight, while females are quite a bit smaller. They have coarse, bristly hair that is coloured a dark greyish to yellowish brown, with the undersides a beautiful creamy-white which I loved to paint. You can’t see the tail in this painting but it’s relatively short, measuring about 13cm in length.
Once common throughout many parts of coastal Australia, today these guys - the southern brown bandicoot - have a more limited distribution with many areas being threatened locally. They are most common in Tasmania where they are found across almost the entire island.
In national assessment, the southern brown bandicoot is currently regarded as Endangered on the mainland as a whole.
Their eyesight isn’t that great as they are nocturnal and depend on their sense of smell for food. They typically live solitary lives, if males encounter one another the more dominant individual leaps onto the back of the other, scratching with its claws. Luckily their skin is unusually thick!
One thing I found quite remarkable is they have the shortest pregnancy of any mammal being less than 14 days! Also, reproduction is closely linked to local rainfall pattern with litters typically resulting in two or three young, although they can have up to five.