BANDICOOTS AND THE GREATER BILBY

Bandicoots and the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) are omnivores with a varied natural diet (Table 14.4). Long­nosed bandicoots (Parameles nasuta) are reported to consume up to 34 types of fungi in all seasons, but amount and diversity of species greatly reduced in spring and summer when only 5-9 taxa were found in scats (Vernes 2014; Vernes et al.

There are indications of macronutrient regulation in peramelids. Northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macro- urus) fed diets with differing energy density (21.7 v. 28.8 kJ g^-1), consisting of mealworms, milled lucerne and a commercial small carnivore mix (Wombaroo, Glen Osmond, South Australia) doubled consumption on the lower energy diet (34.2 v. 19.0 g kg^-0.75 d^-1) to maintain similar energy intake (McClelland et al. 1999). Northern brown bandicoots are considered the most insectivorous of the bandicoots but they are still omnivores (Fig. 14.2). Diets that do not adequately replicate the nutrient com­position of an omnivore have resulted in vitamin B defi­ciencies and weight loss. Northern brown bandicoots have a mean nitrogen retention (MNR) higher than that of more omnivorous marsupials such as the greater bilby (Moyle et al. 1995). As the greater bilby is subjected to seasonal bouts (winter) of seed-based diets with low nitrogen bioavailability, a lower MNR would be expected (Gibson and Hume 2000).

10.