Cracking-clay Pilbara planigale
| Cracking-clay Pilbara planigale | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Family: | Dasyuridae |
| Genus: | Planigale |
| Species: | P. tealei |
| Binomial name | |
| Planigale tealei Aplin, Cooper, Travouillon & Umbrello, 2023 | |
The cracking-clay Pilbara planigale (Planigale tealei), formerly known as Planigale sp. Mt Tom Price, is a species of planigale first described in 2023. It is one of the smallest planigales, making it one of the smallest of all marsupials and mammals. The cracking-clay Pilbara planigale lives in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where it co-occurs with the similar and also newly recognised orange-headed Pilbara planigale (P. kendricki). Both species had historically been mistaken for either the common planigale (P. maculata), or long-tailed planigale (P. ingrami); neither of which are now known to occur in the Pilbara.