The
boodie (
Bettongia lesueur), also known as the
burrowing bettong, is a small
marsupial. Its population is an example of the effects of
introduced animals on
Australian fauna and
ecosystems. Once the most common
macropodiform mammal on the whole continent, the boodie now only lives on off-lying
islands and in a newly introduced
population on the mainland at
Shark Bay. This animal, first collected during an 1817 French expedition of the west coast, was named after
Charles Lesueur, an artist and naturalist who accompanied a previous French expedition.
B. lesueur is known by many common names, including the
tungoo,
Lesueur’s rat-kangaroo, and the
short-nosed rat-kangaroo.