On Friday I gave you this skull to identify from the Balcony in the Natural History Gallery at the Horniman Museum:

I must say that I was very impressed with the response – diet was quickly identified by Rosa Rubicondior, Will Chapman and Carlos Grau then Stephen J Henstridge spotted that this was the skull of Bandicoot and  Jack Ashby, cromercrox and Jamie Revell all dropped hints (or blatantly stated) that this was the skull of a Long-nosed Bandicoot Perameles nasuta, Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1804.

These nocturnal (mainly) insectivorous marsupials are burrowing natives of Eastern Australia, usually (although by no means always) living in wooded environments.

They fill a similar niche to the Tenrecs, Moonrats, Solenodons, Elephant Shrews, etc. After all there are plenty of insects out there and evolution tends to converge on the more efficient bodyplans for dealing with particular lifestyles.

Of course, as with many insectivorous mammals and native Australian species, the Long-nosed Bandicoot has its share of troubles in the form of feral cats. But that’s a different story, for someone else to tell.