Antechinus minimus
Silhouette: Robbi Bishop-Taylor · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The swamp antechinus (Antechinus minimus), also known as the little Tasmanian marsupial mouse, is a species of shrew-like marsupial of the family Dasyuridae and as such is related to dunnarts, quolls and the Tasmanian devil.
The swamp antechinus was first described in 1803 (the first of all the antechinuses) by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who placed it in the genus Dasyurus (quolls), hence its species name minimus, which means "smallest".
There are two recognised subspecies of the Swamp Antechinus: A. m. maritimus, found on the mainland; this subspecies is declining and is classed as near threatened. The area inhabited by the subspecies A. m. maritimus is in the south of the central highlands, Wimmera and Alpine areas of Victoria and the extreme south of South Australia around Mount Gambier. For the nominate subspecies A. m. minimus, the range is Tasmania, including Sunday Island, King Island and Flinders Island.
The habitat for all subspecies is closed heath, wet dense heath, open forest, open heath, swampy drainages and tussock grassland with bracken and sedge growth. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Swamp Antechinus sighting in Great Otway National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 30 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Swamp Antechinus in Great Otway National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–June, August–September and December, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Swamp Antechinus sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Great Otway National Park, in our data
Great Otway National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Swamp Antechinus sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Swamp Antechinus is recorded against all the mammals logged in Great Otway National Park (16 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
