Editing Macrotis (section)

== Evolution ==
The bilby lineage extends back 15 million years.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Stephen|date=2014-03-19|title=15-million-year-old bilby fossil found in Qld|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/03/15-million-year-old-bilby-fossil-found/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-14|website=Australian Geographic|language=en-AU|archive-date=28 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128022203/https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2014/03/15-million-year-old-bilby-fossil-found/}}</ref> In 2014 scientists found part of a 15-million-year-old fossilised jaw of a bilby which had shorter teeth that were probably used for eating forest fruit. Prior to this discovery, the oldest bilby fossil on record was 5 million years old. Modern bilbies have evolved to have long teeth used to dig holes in the desert to eat worms and insects.

It is thought the bilby diverged from its closest relative, an originally-carnivorous [[bandicoot]], 20 [[million years ago]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Young|first=Emma|date=2010-09-07|title=Carnivorous bilby fossil unearthed|url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2010/09/carnivorous-bilby-fossil-unearthed/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-14|website=Australian Geographic|language=en-AU|archive-date=18 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618081816/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2010/09/carnivorous-bilby-fossil-unearthed}}</ref>