Introduction

Bilbies are confined to continental Australia. There are only two extant species. Hind limbs are longer than forelimbs and are syndactylous, the second and third digits being conjoined. There are five digits on the manus and four toes on the pes. The ears are large and prominent. The tail is long and well haired with a prominent dorsal crest of hair and a small spur-like naked tip. The rostrum of the skull is abruptly constricted. Bilbies burrow and are solitary, but burrows may be congregated. The marsupium is well developed and opens postero-ventrally.

Thylacomyidae are nocturnal, terrestrial and carnivorous. The diet consists largely of insects, but small vertebrates and some vegetable matter may be ingested. Of the two extant species, one is endangered and the status of the other is unknown.

General References

Johnson, K.A. 1989. Thylacomyidae. pp. 625-635 in Walton, D.W. & Richardson, B.J. (eds). Fauna of Australia. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1B 827 pp. [publication date established from Duncan, F.M. 1937. On the dates of publication of the Society's 'Proceedings', 1859–1926. With an appendix containing the dates of publication of 'Proceedings', 1830–1858, compiled by the late F.H. Waterhouse, and of the 'Transactions', 1853–1869, by the late Henry Peavot, originally published in P.Z.S. 1893, 1913. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 107: 71–84]

Seebeck, J.H., Brown, P.R., Wallis, R.L. & Kemper, C.M. (eds) 1990. Bandicoots and Bilbies. Chipping Norton : Surrey Beatty & Sons 392 pp.

History of changes

• Macrotis Reid, J. 1837. Description of a new species of the genus Perameles (P. lagotis). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836: 129-131 [publication date established from Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of receipt from the Printers of the sheets of the Society's 'Proceedings' from 1831 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440 [437]] [131] [proposed conditionally for subgeneric use; not preoccupied by Macrotis Dejean Cat. Coleopt. 1833, a nom. nud.].

  Type species:

   Perameles lagotis Reid, 1837 by monotypy.
• Thylacomys Blyth, E. 1840. Mammalia, Birds and Reptiles. pp. 38–288. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, arranged according to its organization; forming the basis for a natural history of animals, and an introduction to comparative anatomy. vii 670 pp. [104] [Blyth used two spellings Thalacomys (p. 104) and Thylacomys (p. 107); Palmer, T.S. 1904. A list of the genera and families of mammals. [Index genera mammalium]. North American Fauna No. 23. Washington D.C. : U.S. Department of Agriculture 984 pp. cited both spellings and, of them, chose Thylacomys as the correct original spelling].

  Type species:

   Perameles lagotis Reid, 1837 by monotypy.

  Secondary source:

   Palmer, T.S. 1904. A list of the genera and families of mammals. [Index genera mammalium]. North American Fauna No. 23. Washington D.C. : U.S. Department of Agriculture 984 pp.
• Paragalia Gray, J.E. 1841. Contributions towards the geographical distribution of the Mammalia in Australia, with notes on some recently discovered species, in a letter addressed to the Author. Appendix C. pp. 397-414 in Grey, G. (ed.). Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-west and Western Australia During the Years 1837, 38, and 39, Under the Authority of Her Majesty's Government. Describing many newly discovered, important, and fertile districts, with observations on the moral and physical condition of the aboriginal inhabitants, &c. &c. London : T. & W. Boone Vol. 2 vii 482 pp. [Date published Nov. 1841] [401].

  Type species:

   Perameles lagotis Reid, 1837 by monotypy.
• Peragalea Gould, J. 1845. The Mammals of Australia. London : J. Gould Vol. 1. [pl. 47] [text to 12th pl of Pt 1 (=text to Vol. 1 pl 7)] [emendation of Paragalia Gray; Peragalea originally used by Gray as an incorrect subsequent spelling of Paragalia, but adopted by Gould as an emendation].
• Phalacomys Anon. 1854. Bandicoot. 382 in Knight, C. (ed.). The English Cyclopaedia. A new dictionary of universal knowledge conducted by Charles Knight. Natural History. London : Bradbury & Evans Vol. 1 viii 1135 pp. [382].

  Type species:

   Perameles lagotis Reid, 1837 by monotypy.
• Thalaconus Richardson, J., Dallas, W.S., Cobbold, T.S., Baird, W. & White, A. 1862. The Museum of Natural History; being a popular account of the structure, habits, and classification of the various departments of the animal kingdom: quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fishes, shells, and insects, including the insects destructive to agriculture. [1859–1862]. Glasgow : W. Mackenzie Vol. 1 vi 446 pp. 70 pls. [publication date established from Anon. 1913. Catalogue of the Books, Manuscripts, Maps and Drawings in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. IV. SP—SN. London : British Museum 1495–1956 pp. [1699]] [214].

  Type species:

   Perameles lagotis Reid, 1837 by monotypy.
• Peragale Lydekker, R. 1887. Catalogue of the Fossil Mammalia in the British Museum (Natural History) Cromwell Road, S.W. Part V. containing the Group Tillodontia, the Orders Sirenia, Cetacea, Edentata, Marsupialia, Monotremata, and supplement. London : British Museum xxxv 345 pp. [256, footnote 5] [emendation of Paragalia Gray, 1841].

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122 [19-20]
• Ride, W.D.L. in Walton, D.W. (ed.) 1988. Zoological Catalogue of Australia Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service x 274 pp. [Date published 13/Apr/1988] [43]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

History of changes

• Perameles lagotis Reid, J. 1837. Description of a new species of the genus Perameles (P. lagotis). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1836: 129-131 [publication date established from Sclater, P.L. 1893. List of the dates of receipt from the Printers of the sheets of the Society's 'Proceedings' from 1831 to 1859 inclusive. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1893: 435–440 [437]] [129].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 55.12.24.68 & 50.11.22.31 ♀ skin (55.12.24.68) & skull (50.11.22.31), Swan River, WA (as Van Diemen's Land).

  Type locality references:

  Anon. 1839. [A letter from Alexander Gordon, Esq. read]. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1838: 149.
• Macrotis lagotis cambrica Troughton, E. le G. 1932. A revision of the rabbit-bandicoots. Family Peramelidae, genus Macrotis. The Australian Zoologist 7: 219-236 [230] [extinct].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M677 ♂ skin & skull, Bathurst, NSW.
• Macrotis lagotis grandis Troughton, E. le G. 1932. A revision of the rabbit-bandicoots. Family Peramelidae, genus Macrotis. The Australian Zoologist 7: 219-236 [229].

  Type data:

   Holotype SAMA M5225 ♂ skin but no skull, Nalpa, SA (as Nalpa, Lake Alexandrina district).
• Macrotis lagotis interjecta Troughton, E. le G. 1932. A revision of the rabbit-bandicoots. Family Peramelidae, genus Macrotis. The Australian Zoologist 7: 219-236 [227] [extinct].

  Type data:

   Holotype AM M4351 ♂ skin & skull, Rawlinna, WA (as Rawlinna, Trans-Australian Railway, Western Australia).
• Thalacomys nigripes Jones, F.W. 1923. The marsupial genus Thalacomys. A review of the rabbit-bandicoots; with the description of a new species. Records of the South Australian Museum (Adelaide) 2: 333-352 [347] [extinct].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 25.10.8.1 & A378.31 ♂ skin (25.10.8.1) & skull (RCSE A378.31*), Ooldea, SA (as 'a restricted area around Ooldea Soak').
• Thalacomys sagitta Thomas, O. 1905. On some Australasian mammals. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 16: 422-428 [426].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 3.5.21.2 ♂ skin & skull, Killalpaninna, SA (as Killalpanima, east of Lake Eyre).

  Type locality references:

  Finlayson, H.H. 1933. On mammals from the Lake Eyre Basin. Part 1. - The Dasyuridae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 57: 195-202 [197] (in correcting the same locality for Sminthopsis crassicaudata centralis Thomas).

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Jackson, S. & Groves, C. 2015. Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 520 pp. [90-91] (discussion of subspecies synonymies)

Generic Combinations

• Macrotis lagotis (Reid, 1837).
• Thylacomys lagotis (Reid, 1837).

Taxonomic Decision for Subspecies Arrangement

• Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122

Introduction

Subspecies not recognised in Mahoney & Ride (1988: 44) or Jackson & Grove (2015), synonymies followed Iredale & Troughton (1934: 20).

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Once inhabiting the arid and semi-arid regions throughout most of the Australian mainland south of about latitude 18° south, it is now confined to the deserts of central Australia, from the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory west to Broome and south to Warburton in Western Australia; probably not extant in Murray-Darling basin, S Gulfs, SW coastal.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tanami (TAN), Warren (WAR), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Fossorial, frugivorous, granivore, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, low open woodland, low shrubland, low woodland, nocturnal, open scrub, predator, root feeder, tall shrubland, terrestrial, tussock grassland, woodland.

Extra Ecological Information

In Great Sandy Desert records suggest association with alluvial surfaces rather than sandplains and dunes, insectivore.

General References

Agar, N.S. & Godwin, I.R. 1991. Red cell metabolism in brown antechinus, the bilby and the rufous hare-wallaby. Australian Journal of Zoology 39: 681-687

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.

Anon. 1983. Conservation of the Dalgyte. SWANS 13(1): 15-17

Archer, M. & Kirsch, J.A.W. 1977. The case for the Thylacomyidae and Myrmecobiidae, Gill, 1872, or why are marsupial families so extended. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 102: 18-25

Claridge, A.W. & May, T.W. 1994. Mycophagy among Australian mammals. Australian Journal of Ecology 19: 251-275

Covacevich, J.A. & Couper, P.J. 1996. Aspidites ramsayi (Boidae) in the Brigalow Biogeographic Region of Queensland: Occurrence, conservation status and possible bilby associations. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 39: 243-246

Dickman, C.R. 1994. Native mammals of western New South Wales: Past neglect, future rehabilitation? pp. 81-91 in Lunney, D., Hand, S.Reed, P. & Butcher, D. (eds). Future of the fauna of western New South Wales. Mosman : Royal Zoological Society of NSW 245 pp.

Gibson, L.A. 2001. Seasonal changes in the diet, food availability and food preference of the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) in south-western Queensland. Wildlife Research 28: 121-134

Hayman, D.L. & Martin, P.G. 1974. Mammalia 1: Monotremata and Marsupialia. Animal Cytogenetics. Chordata. Berlin : Gebrüder Borntraeger Vol. 4 110 pp.

Hulbert, A.J. 1973. Growth and development of pouch young in the Rabbit-eared Bandicoot, Macrotis lagotis (Peramelidae). Australian Mammalogy 1: 38-39

Hulbert, A.J. 1974. A comparative study of the environmental physiology of peramelid marsupials. Australian Mammalogy 1: 299

Iredale, T. & Troughton, E. le G. 1934. A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 6: i-xii 1-122

Jackson, S. & Groves, C. 2015. Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing 520 pp. [90-91]

Johnson, C.N. & Johnson, K.A. 1983. Behaviour of the Bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid), (Marsupialia: Thylacomyidae) in captivity. Australian Wildlife Research 10: 77-87

Johnson, K.A. 1989. Thylacomyidae. pp. 625-635 in Walton, D.W. & Richardson, B.J. (eds). Fauna of Australia. Mammalia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1B 827 pp.

Johnson, K.A. 1995. Bilby Macrotis lagotis. pp. 186-188 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Kirsch, J.A.W. 1977. The comparative serology of Marsupialia, and a classification of marsupials. Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 52: 1-152

Lavery, H.J. & Kirkpatrick, T.H. 1997. Field management of the bilby Macrotis lagotis in an area of south-western Queensland. Biological Conservation 1997: 271-281

Maxwell, S., Burbidge, A.A. & Morris, K. 1996. The 1996 Action Plan for Australian Marsupials and Monotremes. Canberra : Wildlife Australia 234 pp.

McCracken, H.E. 1986. Observations on the oestrous cycle and gestation period of the Greater Bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid) (Marsupialia: Thylacomyidae). Australian Mammalogy 9: 5-16

McCracken, H.E. 1990. Reproduction in the greater bilby, Macrotis lagotis (Reid) - a comparison with other perameloids. pp. 199-204 in Seebeck, J.H., Brown, P.R., Wallis, R.L. & Kemper, C.M. (eds). Bandicoots and Bilbies. Chipping Norton : Surrey Beatty & Sons 392 pp.

Miller, E.J., Eldridge, M.D.B., Thomas, N., Marlow, N. & Herbert, C.A. 2010. The genetic mating system, male reproductive success and lack of selection on male traits in the greater bilby. Australian Journal of Zoology 58(2): 113-120

Moritz, C., Heideman, A., Geffen, E. & McRae, P. 1997. Genetic population structure of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis, a marsupial in decline. Molecular Ecology 6: 925-936

Southgate, R., McRae, P. & Atherton, R. 1995. Trapping techniques and pen design for the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis. Australian Mammalogy 18: 101-104

Southgate, R. & Adams, M. 1993. Genetic variation in the greater bilby. Pacific Conservation Biology 1: 46-51

Southgate, R. & Possingham, H. 1995. Modeling the reintroduction of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis using the metapopulation model analysis of the likelihood of extinction (ALEX). Biological Conservation 73: 151-160

Southgate, R.I. 1990. Distribution and abundance of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis Reid (Marsupialia: Peramelidae). pp. 293-302 in Seebeck, J.H., Brown, P.R., Wallis, R.L. & Kemper, C.M. (eds). Bandicoots and Bilbies. Chipping Norton : Surrey Beatty & Sons 392 pp.

Southgate, R.I. 1990. Habitats and diet of the greater bilby Macrotis lagotis Reid (Marsupialia: Peramelidae). In, Seebeck, J.H., Brown, P.R., Wallis, R.L. & Kemper, C.M. (eds). Bandicoots and Bilbies. Chipping Norton : Surrey Beatty & Sons 392 pp.

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Bilby)

History of changes

• 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