The
order Peramelemorphia includes the
bandicoots and
bilbies: it equates approximately to the mainstream of
marsupial omnivores. All members of the order are
endemic to the twin land masses of
Australia-
New Guinea and most have the characteristic bandicoot shape: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, very large upright ears, relatively long, thin legs, and a thin tail. Their size varies from about 140 grams up to 4 kilograms, but most species are about the weight of a half-grown kitten: somewhere around one kilogram.