Numbat: Myrmecobiidae

The numbat is a solitary animal and is the only Australian mammal that is active only during the day (diurnal). During most of the year, numbats are active from mid-morning until late afternoon, when the temperatures are warmest. However, during the hottest part of the year they avoid activity around noon and prefer to forage in the early morning and late afternoon.

When numbats reproduce, they do not form pairs, so the female is left to raise her young alone. After only a fourteen-day pregnancy, the female gives birth to an average of four young, which she continues to carry without a pouch. Marsupial mammals like the numbat do not form a placenta when their young are in their mother's womb. Instead, they are born underdeveloped and spend time developing outside attached to their mother's milk teats. Unlike other marsupials, the numbat does not have a pouch. When the young are born, they are hairless and their eyes are still sealed shut. They crawl toward their mother's nipples, which are on her belly, and attach themselves there. They remain on the mother's belly and are carried with her for six to seven months while they grow hair and continue to develop. The young then spend several more months in the mother's nest. While in the nest, their eyes open and they begin to explore. By early the following year, numbat young venture out on their own.