Central Australian rabbit kangaroo
| Central Australian rabbit kangaroo | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lagorchestes asomatus | ||||||||||||
| Finlayson , 1943 |
The Central Australian hare kangaroo ( Lagorchestes asomatus ) is an extinct species of marsupial from the kangaroo family (Macropodidae).
In addition to reports from the Aborigines, only one skull of this kangaroo species is known, which was found in 1932. According to reports, the animal was roughly the size of a rabbit, with soft gray fur and a short tail. The site was near Lake Mackay in Australia in the Northern Territory , near the border with Western Australia . The habitat of this species was therefore dry grasslands overgrown with prickly head grass.
The reasons for the extinction of this species probably lay in the conversion of their habitat and in the re-enactment by introduced foxes and cats . Reports of Central Australian rabbit kangaroos date back to the 1960s.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
Web links
- Data sheet (PDF) (286 kB)
- Lagorchestes asomatus onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved May 15, 2009.