Perameles eremiana Spencer, 1897:9
Desert bandicoot, Orange-backed bandicoot, mulgaruquirra (Alice Springs), iwurra (Charlotte Waters), walilya (Warburton region)
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct (Burbidge, 2024)
Last record: 1931 (Flannery et al., 1990); 1943 (Fisher & Blomberg, 2012; Lee et al., 2017; Gordon, 2023); 1960's (Johnson, 2006:169); between 1964 and 1969 (according to local aborigines)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
First collected in the Northern Territory in 1896 by F. J. Gillen and P. M. Byrne. Gordon (2008) has suggested that Perameles eremiana is synonymous with P. bougainville, disagreeing with Freeman's (1967) delineation of the two species. The pintupi people of central Australia claimed to have eaten them as recently as 1964/69 (Burbidge et al., 1988).
Distribution
Northern Territory (southern), South Australia (northern) & Western Australia (southeastern), Australia
Type locality: "Burt Plain, N of Alice Springs, N.T., central Australia (as 40 miles NE of Charlotte Waters, N.T.)" (Mahoney & Ride, 1988:41)
Anatomy & Morphology
Body mass: ~200gm (Johnson, 2006:169)
Biology & Ecology
"Ecology: terrestrial, nocturnal, hummock grassland; sand ridge desert, shallow nesting depression."
(Mahoney & Ride, 1988:41)
Hypodigm
Holotype: NMV C5864 (male; in spirits) (Mahoney & Ride, 1988:41)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Spencer, Baldwin. (1897). Description of two new species of marsupials from Central Australia. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (new series) 9: 5-11.
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