News Climate

Numbats are built to hold heat, making climate change extra risky for the marsupials

Thermal imaging suggests how fast numbats’ core body temperature could rise to dangerous levels

A numbat, brown and black marsupial with white stripes and a pointy nose, sits on a log.

Numbats (Myrmecobius fasciatus) (one shown) feed only on termites, which come to the surface in heat of the day.

Christine Cooper

By Jake Buehler

- More than 2 years ago

Numbats are curious creatures. The only marsupials that are active solely during the day, when they scratch at soil and rotting logs for termites, these squirrel-sized animals are built to hoard body heat.