biology

Hairy-footed dunnart

Hairy-footed dunnart is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hairy-footed dunnart rather than just read about it. In short: The hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis hirtipes) is a dunnart that has silver hairs on the soles of it hind feet accompanied by long hair on the side of its sole. It is an Australian marsupial similar to the Ooldea dunnart, with its upper body yellow-brown and lower body white in colour.

Key takeaways

Hairy-footed dunnart belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hairy-footed dunnart to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hairy-footed dunnart from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The hairy-footed dunnart (Sminthopsis hirtipes) is a dunnart that has silver hairs on the soles of it hind feet accompanied by long hair on the side of its sole. It is an Australian marsupial similar to the Ooldea dunnart, with its upper body yellow-brown and lower body white in colour. Its total length is 14.7–18 cm (5.8–7.1 in); its average body length is 7.2–8.5 cm (2.8–3.3 in) with a tail of 7.5–9.5 cm (3.0–3.7 in). Its ear length is 15 mm (0.59 in). It weighs between 13 and 19 g (0.46 and 0.67 oz). Its tail is thin and pinkish-white and can be thickened at the base.

Distribution and habitat This species inhabits three distinct areas; around Monkey Mia Bay and Kilbarri in Western Australia, a large area where the border of South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia converge and a small area between the Northern Territory and Queensland border 100 km north of the South Australian border. Its habitat includes arid and semi-arid woodlands, heath, savannah grasslands.

Social organisation and breeding The hairy-footed dunnart lives in burrows built by spiders, bull ants and other similar burrowing type species. Not much is known about the breeding cycle but the young are in the pouch by October and juveniles emerge by late April.

Diet Its typical diet includes mainly small reptiles and arthropods.

References

Menkhorst, P.; Knight, F. (2001). A field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford Press. ISBN 0-19-550870-X.

External links Australian Biological Resources Study

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hairy-footed dunnart

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hairy-footed dunnart claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hairy-footed dunnart before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hairy-footed dunnart ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hairy-footed dunnart

In research: Hairy-footed dunnart appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hairy-footed dunnart in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hairy-footed dunnart is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dasyuromorphs, IUCN Red List least concern species, Mammals described in 1898, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hairy-footed dunnart outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hairy-footed dunnart in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hairy-footed dunnart means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hairy-footed dunnart out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hairy-footed dunnart in simple terms?

Why does Hairy-footed dunnart matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hairy-footed dunnart?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hairy-footed dunnart.