Long-nosed potoroo
Potorous tridactylus (Kerr, 1792)
The long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) is a species in the family Potoroidae, order Diprotodontia. Recorded adults weigh 1.06 kg to 1.1 kg and live up to 13.3 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the long-nosed potoroo
- Weight
- 1.06 kg – 1.1 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13.3 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 15.1 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 31.8 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 13.4 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the long-nosed potoroo
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the long-nosed potoroo live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The long-nosed potoroo is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the long-nosed potoroo?
The long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) is a small, hopping mammal native to forests and shrubland of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the potoroo and bettong family (Potoroidae), it lives alone and digs at night for fungi, roots, or small insects. It is also a marsupial (like kangaroos) and carries its young in a pouch. The long-nosed potoroo is threatened by habitat loss and introduced species such as cats or foxes. There are two subspecies: P. t. tridactylus on mainland Australia, and P. t. apicalis on Tasmania, with lighter fur.
At first glance, the long-nosed potoroo with its pointed nose and grey-brown fur looks very much like a bandicoot — that is, until it hops away with its front feet tucked into its chest, revealing its close relationship with the kangaroo family. The long-nosed potoroo exhibits many morphological specializations such as an elongated pointed rostral region (nose), erect ears, large eyes, claws for digging, and long robust hind legs. It is only a small marsupial, with a body length between 34 and 38 cm (13–15 in), and a semi-prehensile tail length of 15 to 24 cm (5.9–9.4 in).
As it is rarely seen in the wild, better indicators of its presence are the runways it makes through the undergrowth and the hollow diggings it leaves behind when feeding on underground roots and fungi.
From the Wikipedia article “Long-nosed potoroo” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long-nosed_potoroo&oldid=1314570545), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the long-nosed potoroo endangered?
The long-nosed potoroo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the long-nosed potoroo classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderDiprotodontia
- familyPotoroidae
- genusPotorous
- SpeciesPotorous tridactylus (Kerr, 1792)
Synonyms Didelphis tridactyla, Hypsiprymnus peron
Other names and names in other languages (13)
- بوطور طويل الأنفArabic
- klokánek krysíCzech
- Langnasen-KaninchenkänguruGerman
- Langschnauzen-KaninchenkänguruGerman
- Potoro HociquilargoSpanish
- pitkäkuonopotoriFinnish
- Potoroo dal naso lungoItalian
- ハナナガネズミカンガルーJapanese
- LangsnutepotoroNorwegian Bokmål
- LangneuspotoroeDutch
- kanguroszczur myszatyPolish
- Potoro-NarigudoPortuguese
- Трёхпалый поторуRussian
Relatives of the long-nosed potoroo
Other species in the same genus Potorous.
Gilbert's potoroo
Potorous gilbertii
Long-footed potoroo
Potorous longipes
Broad-faced potoroo
Potorous platyops
CompareLong-nosed potoroo vs Gilbert's potorooLong-nosed potoroo vs Long-footed potorooLong-nosed potoroo vs Broad-faced potorooLong-nosed potoroo vs Hypsiprymnus formosus
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the long-nosed potoroo?
An adult long-nosed potoroo weighs 1.06 kg – 1.1 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the long-nosed potoroo live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the long-nosed potoroo for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the long-nosed potoroo endangered?
The long-nosed potoroo is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
How long does the long-nosed potoroo live?
The long-nosed potoroo has a recorded lifespan of 13.3 years.
How long is the long-nosed potoroo pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 31.8 days.
What kind of animal is the long-nosed potoroo?
The long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) belongs to the family Potoroidae in the order Diprotodontia.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-nosed-potoroo
“Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-nosed-potoroo.
@misc{long_nosed_potoroo_2026,
title = {Long-nosed potoroo (Potorous tridactylus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/long-nosed-potoroo},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}