Bettongia anhydra (Finlayson, 1957:552)
Desert bettong
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Bettongia lesueur anhydra (Finlayson, 1957); Bettongia penicillata anhydra Finlayson, 1957
Wakefield (1967) synonymized B. lesueur anhydra with B. l. lesueur. It was reinstated and elevated to specific status by Matt McDowell and co-authors in a series of publications (McDowell, 2013; McDowell et al., 2013; McDowell, et al., 2015). It was regarded as a valid species in the taxonomic revision by (Newman-Martin et al., 2025), who found it phylogenetically closest to B. lesueur, but this did not include craniodental examination.
Conservation Status
Extinct (Burbidge & Zichy-Woinarski, 2016; Burbidge, 2024; Woinarski & Burbidge, 2025)
Last record: 1933 (confirmed) ([Terry, 1937?;] McDowell et al., 2015; Burbidge & Zichy-Woinarski, 2016; Woinarski & Burbidge, 2025); c.1961-1963 (unconfirmed, viz. refers to B. anhydra or B. lesueur; see Newman-Martin et al., 2025) (Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts) (Burbidge et al., 1988:22)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Distribution & Habitat
McEwin Hills, east of Lake McKay, Tanami Desert, Northern Territory (historical) & Western Australia (extreme south-eastern; prehistoric), Australia
Type locality: "near McEwin Hills, Lake MacKay area, N.T." (Calaby & Richardson, 1988:55)
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: SAMA M3582 (partial skull with mandible) (Calaby & Richardson, 1988:55; Newman-Martin et al., 2025:6)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Finlayson, Hedley Herbert. (1957). Preliminary description of two new forms of Bettongia (Marsupialia). Annals And Magazine of Natural History (12) 10: 552-554. [Abstract]
Other references:
Bolton, B.L. and Latz, P.K. 1978. The western hare-wallaby Lagorchestes hirsutus (Gould) (Macropodidae) in the Tanami Desert. Australian Wildlife Research 5: 285-293.
Burbidge, Andrew A. (2024). Australian terrestrial mammals: how many modern extinctions? Australian Mammalogy. https://doi.org/10.1071/AM23037
Burbidge, Andrew A., Johnson, Ken A., Fuller, Phillip J. and Southgate, R. I. (1988). Aboriginal Knowledge of the Mammals of the Central Deserts of Australia. Aust. Wildl. Res. 15: 9-39.
Burbidge, A. A. and Zichy-Woinarski, J. (2016). Bettongia anhydra. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T71510353A71510399. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T71510353A71510399.en. Downloaded on 18 December 2016.
Calaby, J. H. and Richardson, B. J. (1988). Potoroidae, pp. 53-59. In: Walton, D. W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 5. Mammalia. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. x + 273 pp. [p. 55]
Christensen, P. and Burrows, N.L. 1994. Project desert dreaming: the re introduction of mammals to the Gibson Desert, Western Australia. In: M. Serena (ed.), Reintroduction biology of Australian and New Zealand fauna, pp. 190-207. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Finlayson, Hedley Herbert. (1958). On central Australian mammals (with notice of related species from adjacent tracts). Part III—The Potoroinae. Rec South Aust Mus 13: 235-303.
Jackson, Stephen and Groves, Colin. (2015). Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. Clayton South, Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing. 529 pp. [p. 135]
Latz, P. 1995. Bushfires and bushtucker, Aboriginal plant use in Central Australia. IAD Press, Alice Springs.
McDowell, Matthew C. (2013). Late Quaternary faunal responses to environmental change and isolation on a large Australian land-bridge island. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Flinders University, Adelaide.
McDowell, Matthew C. (2023). Desert Bettong, Bettongia anhydra, pp. 288-289. In: Baker, Andrew M. and Gynther, Ian C. (eds.). Strahan’s Mammals of Australia (4th ed.). Wahroonga, NSW: Reed New Holland Publishers. 848 pp.
McDowell, Matthew C., Haouchar, Dalal, Aplin, Ken P., Bunce, Michael, Baynes, Alexander and Prideaux, Gavin J. (2015). Morphological and molecular evidence supports specific recognition of the recently extinct Bettongia anhydra (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). Journal of Mammalogy 96(2): 287-296.
McDowell, M. C., Prideaux, Gavin J. and Baynes, A. (2013). The elevation of Bettongia anhydra (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) to specific status. Late Quaternary faunal responses to environmental change and isolation on a large Australian land-bridge island, 58.
Newman-Martin, Jake, Travouillon, Kenny J., Warburton, Natalie, Barham, Milo and Blyth, Alison J. (2025). A taxonomic revision of the Bettongia penicillata (Diprotodontia: Potoroidae) species complex and description of the subfossil species Bettongia haoucharae sp. nov. Zootaxa 5690(1): 1-69. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5690.1.1
Short, J. 1998. The extinction of rat-kangaroos (Marsupialia: Potoroidae) in New South Wales, Australia. Biological Conservation 86: 365-377.
Terry, Michael. (1937). Sand and Sun. London: Michael Joseph Limited. [relevant citation?]
Wakefield, N. A. (1967). Some taxonomic revision in the Australian marsupial genus Bettongia (Macropodidae), with description of a new species. Victorian Naturalist 84: 8-22.
Woinarski, John C. Z., Braby, M. F., Burbidge, A. A., Coates, D., Garnett, S. T., Fensham, R. J., Legge, S. M., McKenzie, N. L., Silcock, J L. and Murphy, B. P. (2019). Reading the black book: The number, timing, distribution and causes of listed extinctions in Australia. Biological Conservation 239: 108261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108261
Woinarski, J. C. Z. and Burbidge, A. A. (2025). Bettongia anhydra. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T71510353A258666243. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-1.RLTS.T71510353A258666243.en. Accessed on 06 September 2025.
Woinarski, J. C. Z., Burbidge, A. A. and Harrison, P. L. (2014). The Action Plan for Australian Mammals 2012. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
https://www1.data.antarctica.gov.au/aadc/biodiversity/taxon_profile.cfm?taxon_id=64791
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/19192/bettongia-anhydra