biology

Ooldea dunnart

Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart rather than just read about it. In short: The Ooldea dunnart (Sminthopsis ooldea), also called Troughton's dunnart after the person who found the species, is an Australian marsupial similar to the hairy-footed dunnart. It is greyish-yellow on its upper body and white on the underside with dark patches on its crown, forehead and in front of the eyes, and a pink thinly furred carrot-shaped tail.

Key takeaways

Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ooldea dunnart from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Ooldea dunnart (Sminthopsis ooldea), also called Troughton's dunnart after the person who found the species, is an Australian marsupial similar to the hairy-footed dunnart. It is greyish-yellow on its upper body and white on the underside with dark patches on its crown, forehead and in front of the eyes, and a pink thinly furred carrot-shaped tail. Its total length is 11.5–17.3 cm (4.5–6.8 in); its average body length is 5.5–8 cm (2.2–3.1 in) with a tail of 6–9.3 cm (2.4–3.7 in). Its ear length is 14–17 mm (0.55–0.67 in). It weighs between 10 and 18 g (0.35 and 0.63 oz).

Distribution and habitat The Ooldea dunnart is found from the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory, south to Ooldea in South Australia and east to neighbouring areas of Western Australia. The type of habitat it inhabits includes arid eucalypt and acacia woodlands, heathlands mallee scrub and hummock grasslands, low shrubland, open scrub and tall open shrubland.

Social organisation and breeding The Ooldea dunnart has eight young between September and November but, since the species is not much studied, not much more is known. It is nocturnal and has been found in burrows and hollow logs.

Diet It is believed, from evidence gathered, that this species eats insects.

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 Ooldea dunnart

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ooldea 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 Ooldea 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 Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart

In research: Ooldea 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 Ooldea 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: Ooldea 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 1965, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ooldea dunnart in simple terms?

Why does Ooldea 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 Ooldea 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 Ooldea dunnart.