Lesser Bilby
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| Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887 |
The Lesser Bilby (Macrotis leucura) was a rabbit-like marsupial. Reaching the size of a young rabbit, it lived in the deserts of Central Australia. Since the 1950s, it has been extinct.
The Lesser Bilby was first discovered in 1887. A carnivore, it preyed on rodents, had a nasty temperament and was fierce and intractable, making savage, snapping bites and harsh, hissing sounds toward anyone trying to handle it. It was grey-brown, fading to pale grey underneath with a white tail, and much smaller than the Greater Bilby at around 300 to 450 g. It is known only from the Gibson and Great Sandy deserts of arid central Australia; it may have had a greater range but this must remain unknown. It was exterminated by fur trapping, fox predation, and competition from rabbits.
It burrowed in sand dunes, constructing burrows 2-3 metres deep and closing the entrance with loose sand by day. It was nocturnal and bred seasonally, giving birth to twins. There seems to have been several in Cooncherie Station in the summer of 1932, but these were the last to be collected alive. The last specimen was a skull picked up below a Wedge-tailed Eagle's nest in 1967. The bones were estimated at being under 15 years old.
[edit] References
- Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group (1996). Macrotis leucura. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is listed as extinct
- Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten A Gap in Nature. Published by William Heinemann (2001)
- Brands, S. J.. Macrotis leucura. Systema Naturae 2000. Retrieved on November 29, 2005.
- Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 38. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
