Spectacled hare-wallaby

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Spectacled hare-wallaby [1]
Temporal range: Recent [2]
Lag cons.jpg
Plate 58 of Mammals of Australia Vol. II
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Genus: Lagorchestes
Species:
L. conspicillatus
Binomial name
Lagorchestes conspicillatus
Gould, 1842
Subspecies
Spectacled Hare Wallaby.JPG
Spectacled hare-wallaby range

The spectacled hare-wallaby (Lagorchestes conspicillatus) is a species of macropod found in Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, a small sub-population is found on Barrow Island, while the mainland type is widespread, though in decline, across northern regions of the country. [3]

Contents

Description

A species of Lagorchestes , hare-wallaby are small members of the family Macropodidae. The spectacled hare-wallaby is found across northern Australia in tropical tussock or spinifex habitats. It can be found from Queensland to Western Australia. In 1997, it was discovered in the savanna country of southwest Papua New Guinea, in the upper Bensbach River area. [4] It is a solitary, nocturnal herbivore, and is considerably larger than its relatives. It is coloured grey-brown with golden tips and an orange circle around its eye, from which it gets its name. [5] It builds its nests among the tough vegetation. When disturbed it hops off in a zigzag manner. The young are produced singly at any time of the year and become sexually mature at about a year old. [6]

Naming and taxonomy

Plate 59 of Mammals of Australia Vol. II Lagorchestes leichardti Gould.jpg
Plate 59 of Mammals of Australia Vol. II

The species was first described by John Gould, naming this hare-wallaby as Lagorchestes conspicillata, and provided an illustration that was included in The Mammals of Australia (Volume II) as plate 59. [7] A separate description, Lagorchestes leichardti, was included in the same work as Pl. 58. [8] This is now regarded as a subpopulation of the same species, which is sometimes described as a subspecies. Lumholtz refers to this animal as a kangaroo-rat, [9] although that term is now the common name for species of a North American rodent genus.

Threat and status

The species was reviewed on the Red List (2008) as having the conservation status least concern. The subspecies L. conspicillatus conspicillatus is restricted to Barrow Island, Western Australia, but was once found throughout the Montebello Islands. Predation by introduced species and development on the island have led to a vulnerable status. L. conspicillatus leichardti, the mainland subspecies, was once regarded as a near-threatened status. The population of the species is in decline, largely due to reduction of habitat through land clearing. Concern also exists regarding the disappearance from arid parts of its far northern range. Reintroduction to former habitats has been proposed, following the related Western Shield projects. [3] [10]

Fossil record

A spectacled hare-wallaby fossil was discovered in Queensland dating up to 11,000 years ago from the early Holocene. [2]

In Aboriginal language and culture

The Bininj people of western Arnhem Land call this animal wularla in the Kunwinjku language. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallaby</span> Macropods of Australia and New Guinea

A wallaby is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and sometimes the same genus, but kangaroos are specifically categorised into the four largest species of the family. The term "wallaby" is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or a wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree-kangaroo</span> Genus of marsupials

Tree-kangaroos are marsupials of the genus Dendrolagus, adapted for arboreal locomotion. They inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and far northeastern Queensland, along with some of the islands in the region. All tree-kangaroos are considered threatened due to hunting and habitat destruction. They are the only true arboreal macropods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macropodidae</span> Family of marsupial mammals

Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and are native to the Australian continent, New Guinea and nearby islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banded hare-wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The banded hare-wallaby, mernine, or munning is a marsupial currently found on the islands of Bernier and Dorre off western Australia. Reintroduced populations have recently been established on islands and fenced mainland sites, including Faure Island and Wadderin Sanctuary near Narembeen in the central wheatbelt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern hare-wallaby</span> Extinct species of marsupial

The eastern hare-wallaby, once also known as the common hare wallaby, is an extinct species of wallaby that was native to southeastern Australia. It was first described by John Gould in 1841.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threatened fauna of Australia</span> Animals at risk of becoming extinct

Threatened fauna of Australia are those species and subspecies of birds, fish, frogs, insects, mammals, molluscs, crustaceans, and reptiles to be found in Australia that are in danger of becoming extinct. This article lists species classified as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrow Island (Western Australia)</span> Island off the coast of Western Australia

Barrow Island is a 202-square-kilometre (78 sq mi) island 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia. The island is the second largest in Western Australia after Dirk Hartog Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spectacled flying fox</span> Species of bat

The spectacled flying fox, also known as the spectacled fruit bat, is a megabat that lives in Australia's north-eastern regions of Queensland. It is also found in New Guinea and on the offshore islands including Woodlark Island, Alcester Island, Kiriwina, and Halmahera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous hare-wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The rufous hare-wallaby, also known as the mala, is a small macropod found in Australia. It was formerly widely distributed across the western half of the continent, but naturally occurring populations are now confined to Bernier Island and Dorre Island Islands off Western Australia.

The Lake Mackay hare-wallaby, also known as the central hare-wallaby or kuluwarri, is an extinct species of macropod formerly found in central Australia. Very little is known about it.

<i>Lagorchestes</i> Genus of marsupials

Lagorchestes is a genus of small, rabbit-like mammals commonly known as hare-wallabies. It includes four species native to Australia and New Guinea, two of which are extinct. Hare-wallabies belong to the macropod family (Macropodidae) which includes kangaroos, wallabies, and other marsupials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agile wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The agile wallaby, also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, becoming paler below. It is sometimes solitary and at other times sociable and grazes on grasses and other plants. The agile wallaby is not considered threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern nail-tail wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The northern or sandy nail-tail wallaby is a species of macropod found across northern Australia on arid and sparsely wooded plains. The largest species of the genus Onychogalea, it is a solitary and nocturnal herbivorous browser that selects its food from a wide variety of grasses and succulent plant material. Distinguished by a slender and long-limbed form that resembles the typical and well known kangaroos, although their standing height is shorter, around half of one metre, and their weight is less than nine kilograms. As with some medium to large kangaroo species, such as Osphranter rufus, they have an unusual pentapedal motion at slow speeds by stiffening the tail for a fifth limb. When fleeing a disturbance, they hop rapidly with the tail curled back and repeatedly utter the sound "wuluhwuluh". Their exceptionally long tail has a broad fingernail-like protuberance beneath a dark crest of hair at its end, a peculiarity of the genus that is much broader than the other species. The name unguifera, meaning claw, is a reference to this extraordinary attribute, the purpose of which is unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short-eared rock-wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The short-eared rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby found in northern Australia, in the northernmost parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is much larger than its three closest relatives, the eastern short-eared rock-wallaby, the nabarlek and the monjon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabarlek</span> Species of marsupial

Nabarleks, are a tiny species of macropod found in northern Australia. They are a shy and nocturnal animal that resides in rocky hollows and forages in the surrounding area. Their diet is grasses, sedges, and ferns found in and around their scrub covered refuges. They are distinguished by a reddish tinge to the mostly grey fur and a distinct stripe at the cheek. They move with great speed and agility when observed, with a forward leaning posture and a bushy tail that arches over the back.

The grassland mosaic-tailed rat, or grassland melomys, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In Australia it is found along the northern coast from Kimberley to New South Wales. In the Top End it is often found in Pandanus. Kunwinjku of western Arnhem Land call this animal mulbbu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macropodinae</span> Subfamily of marsupials

Macropodinae is a subfamily of marsupials in the family Macropodidae, which includes the kangaroos, wallabies, and related species. The subfamily includes about ten genera and at least 51 species. It includes all living members of the Macropodidae except for the banded hare-wallaby, the only surviving member of the subfamily Lagostrophinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands</span> Ecoregion in New Guinea

The Trans Fly savanna and grasslands are a lowland ecoregion on the south coast of the island of New Guinea in both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean sides of the island. With their monsoon and dry season climate these grasslands are quite different from the tropical rainforest that covers most of the island and resemble the landscape of northern Australia which lies to the south.

References

  1. Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 63. ISBN   0-801-88221-4. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 The Paleobiology Database
  3. 1 2 3 Winter, J.; Woinarski, J.; Burbidge, A. (2016). "Lagorchestes conspicillatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T11161A21954319. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T11161A21954319.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. Hitchcock, G. 1997 "First record of the Spectacled Hare-wallaby Lagorchestes conspicillatus (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) in New Guinea". Science in New Guinea23(1): 47–51.
  5. Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press. p. 108.
  6. Whitfield, Philip (1998). The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Animals. New York: Marshall Editions Development Limited. p. 28.
  7. "Lagorchestes leichardti". Australian Mammal Gould Print Images. Museum Victoria. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  8. "Lagorchestes conspicillata". Australian Mammal Gould Print Images. Museum Australia (archived). Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2007.
  9. Lumholtz, Carl (1889). Among cannibals; an account of four years' travels in Australia and of camp life with the aborigines of Queensland. p. 29.
  10. Burbidge, Andrew A (2004). "4. Mammals". Threatened animals of Western Australia. Department of Conservation and Land Management. p. 64. ISBN   0-7307-5549-5. Vulnerable. 'Montebello Renewal', a Western Shield project, is eradicating feral cats and rats ...
  11. Garde, Murray. "wularla". Bininj Kunwok Online Dictionary. Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre. Retrieved 30 October 2021.