grass seeds. Sometimes when food is scarce, the female bandicoot will eat her young. This marsupial forages alone during the night and has a keen sense of smell. This allows it to find food either laying in the open or buried underground. Hunting at night, however, also has its consequences. The bandicoot is prime prey for many nocturnal cats, foxes, and owls found in Australia. The Northern brown bandicoot is a host of the Acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Australiformis semoni. Life history The northern brown bandicoot diligently marks and retains its territory. It has scent glands on the ears, mouth, pouch, and cloaca. This solitary marsupial is aggressive only towards others of its species. If a bandicoot is startled in its nesting site, it will flee. Hardly ever will the northern brown bandicoot defend itself unless two males confront one another over territorial rights. Then, either a male is killed or one male becomes subordinate to the other and avoids confrontation. The subordinate male also forfeits to the dominant male all sexual relations with local females. Bandicoots are not social animals and do not live in groups, with the exception of mother and her young. The northern brown bandicoot breeds throughout the year. An average litter consists of 2 to 4 young. Being marsupials, the newborns are naked and immature and thus undergo extensive development within the mother's pouch. The gestation period (12.5 days) is the shortest recorded for any mammal. Bandicoots are also the only metatherian marsupials that have placentas similar to eutherian mammals. Juveniles are weaned at 60 days post partum. By this time, the marsupial young are capable of sustaining endothermy on their own. I. macrourus have a lifespan of approximately two years. Female bandicoots produce between 8 and 11 litters in their lifetime. Male bandicoots don't play a significant role in the care of juvenile I. macrourus. The name bandicoot is based on their rather ratlike appearance. The name comes from a corruption of an Indian word "pandi-kokku" signifying "pig-rat". Conservation status Over the past century, populations of the northern brown bandicoot have decreased after the European introduction of rabbits and livestock into Australia. This dramatically heightened the direct competition for food and habitat. Bandicoot populations further suffered after the introduction of the fox and cat, both predators of small animals. In Aboriginal language and culture The Northern brown bandicoot is known as yok to the Kunwinjku