Those digits of the forefoot that are well developed have sharp nails for digging. The canines are slender and pointed. The premolars are narrow and pointed, and the molars are four-sided or triangular in outline, with four external cusps. The members of this family are alert and sprightly, generally traveling on all four feet with a galloping action. They are terrestrial and mainly nocturnal, sheltering by day in grassy nests on the surface of the ground.
Most species have mixed feeding habits.
They drink water in captivity, but dew seems sufficient for their needs in the wild when water is not present. The Peramelidae and Thylacomyidae are the only marsupial families in which a chorioallantoic placenta develops after the transient yolk-sac placenta. This chorioallantoic placenta, however, unlike that of placental mammals, lacks villi. The pouch opens downward and backward. Newly born young of some bandicoots have deciduous claws that are shed soon after the young reach the pouch.