Likely Diet:
* Insects: Bilbies are insectivores, meaning they primarily eat insects. This includes:
* Termites: Bilbies are particularly fond of termites and play a crucial role in controlling their populations.
* Beetles: They also eat a variety of beetles.
* Other insects: They will likely consume other insects like grasshoppers, ants, and spiders.
* Seeds and fruits: They also supplement their diet with seeds and fruits they find on the ground.
* Small vertebrates: While not their primary food source, they may occasionally eat small reptiles, amphibians, and even nestling birds.
* Fungi: They are known to eat fungi, particularly mushrooms.
Ecological Factors:
* Australia's diverse landscape: Before European settlement, Australia had a vast and varied ecosystem. The types of insects, seeds, and fruits available to bilbies would have depended on the specific region they inhabited.
* Role as ecosystem engineers: Bilbies play an important role in their ecosystem by digging burrows. This helps to aerate the soil, create habitats for other animals, and disperse seeds. This would have been essential for the health of the pre-European Australian landscape.
Challenges:
* Lack of historical data: There are no direct observations of bilby diets in pre-European Australia.
* Extinction and habitat loss: The arrival of Europeans led to significant changes in the Australian landscape, including the introduction of predators like foxes and cats. This caused a decline in bilby populations and altered their available food sources.
In conclusion, while we can't say with certainty what bilbies ate in pre-European times, we can assume their diet was primarily composed of insects, supplemented with seeds, fruits, and other small animals. Their dietary needs would have been influenced by the diverse and complex Australian environment they lived in.