Author: Charles Feigin, Lecturer in Genetics & Evolutionary Biology, La Trobe University

Hidden beneath the dunes, a mysterious creature glides through the sand. This is not one of the giant worms of Arrakis in Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, Dune. Rather, it’s an enigmatic and tiny mammal found only in the deserts of Australia – the marsupial mole. There are two related species of the marsupial mole. Notoryctes typhlops, or southern marsupial mole, is found across the deserts of central and southern Australia. It is also also called itjaritjari by the local Indigenous Aṉangu peoples. Notoryctes caurinus, or the northern marsupial mole, is found in the deserts of northwestern Australia. It is also…