Species Macrotis leucura (Thomas, 1887) (extinct)
Lesser Bilby
- Peragale leucura Thomas, O. 1887. Description of a second species of rabbit-bandicoot (Peragale). Annals and Magazine of Natural History 5 19: 397-399 [397].
Type data:
Holotype BMNH 83.10.19.17 ♂ skin & spirit specimen, unknown locality. - Peragale minor Spencer, B. 1897. Description of two new species of marsupials from Central Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria ns 9: 5-11 [6].
Type data:
Holotype NMV C7091 ♂ in alcohol without skull (skull possibly C7294; holotype identified by Troughton, E. le G. 1932. A revision of the rabbit-bandicoots. Family Peramelidae, genus Macrotis. Australian Zoologist 7: 219–236 [233]; also see Dixon, J.M. 1970. Catalogue of mammal types (Class Mammalia) in the National Museum of Victoria. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 31: 105–114 [108]), sand-hills about 40 miles NE of Charlotte Waters, NT. - Thalacomys minor miselius Finlayson, H.H. 1932. Preliminary descriptions of two new mammals from South Australia. 1. Thalacomys minor var. miselius (subsp. nov.). 2. Pseudomys (Gyomys) apodemoides (sp. nov.). Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 56: 168-171 [168].
Type data:
Holotype SAMA M3465 ♂ skin & skull, Cooncherie, SA (as Cooncherie, on the lower Diamantina, lat. 26º32' approx.). - Macrotis minor miseliae Tate, G.H.H. 1948. Results of the Archbold Expeditions. No. 60 Studies in the Peramelidae (Marsupialia). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 92: 313-346 [343] [emendation of Thalacomys minor miselius Finlayson, 1932].
Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy
- Finlayson, H.H. 1935. On mammals from the Lake Eyre Basin. Part II - The Peramelidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 59: 227-236 [231-233]
- Troughton, E. le G. 1941. Furred Animals of Australia. 1st edn. Sydney : Angus & Robertson xxvii 374 pp. 25 pls. [73-74]
Generic Combinations
- Macrotis leucura (Thomas, 1887).
- Thylacomys leucurus (Thomas, 1887).
- Thylacomys minor (Spencer, 1897).
- Macrotis minor (Spencer, 1897).
Distribution
States
Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia
Extra Distribution Information
Collected only from Mungerani and Cooncheri, SA and 65 km northwest of Charlotte Waters, 23 km south-southeast of Steele Gap, and near Barrow Creek, NT; now extinct.
IBRA
NT, SA, WA: Burt Plain (BRT), Channel Country (CHC), Central Ranges (CR), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gibson Desert (GD), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Tanami (TAN)
Ecological Descriptors
Desert sand dunes, fossorial, frugivorous, nocturnal, omnivore, predator, terrestrial, tussock grassland.
Extra Ecological Information
Burrows in dunes, diet includes rodents.
General References
Aitken, P. 1979. The status of endangered Australian wombats, bandicoots and the marsupial mole. pp. 61-65 in Tyler, M.J. (ed.). The Status of Endangered Australasian Wildlife. Adelaide : Royal Zoological Society of South Australia.
Dixon, J.M. 1988. Notes on the diet of three mammals presumed to be extinct: the pig footed bandicoot, the lesser bilby and the desert rat kangaroo. Victorian Naturalist 105: 208-211
Finlayson, H.H. 1935. On mammals from the Lake Eyre Basin. Part II - The Peramelidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 59: 227-236
Johnson, K.A. 1995. Lesser Bilby Macrotis leucura. pp. 189-190 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.
Parker, S.A. 1973. An annotated checklist of the native land mammals of the Northern Territory. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 16(11): 1-57 [12, 48] (doubts the Barrow Creek location)
Common Name References
ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Lesser Bilby)
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05-Nov-2010 | 21-Dec-2021 | MODIFIED | ||
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |