ORDER MARSUPIALIA I MARSUPIALS 79 



Gray's Rat-kangaroo 



BETTONGIA LESUEUR GRAII (Gould) 



Hypsiprymnus Graii Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1840, p. 178, 1841. 



("Swan River," Western Australia.) 

 FIGS.: Gould, 1855, vol. 2, pi. 64; Cabrera, 1919, pi. 14. 



This subspecies of the Western Australian mainland has suffered 

 pronounced restriction of range and reduction in numbers. 



Fur long and soft; general color above (including back of ears) 

 ashy brown; sides of head and body very faintly tinged with yel- 

 lowish ; under parts dirty white ; feet very pale brown ; tail brown, 

 except the terminal third, which is covered with longish white hairs. 

 Head and body, 457 mm. ; tail, 292 mm. (Gould, 1841c, pp. 178-179.) 



Gray's Rat-kangaroo is apparently now confined to a compara- 

 tively small area in the southwest of Western Australia. Short- 

 ridge (1910, p. 823, map) indicates a former distribution covering 

 almost the entire southern half of that state. The line of demarca- 

 tion or intergradation between this subspecies and B. I. harveyi re- 

 mains undetermined. 



Gould (1863, vol. 2, p. 74) "received examples of this animal from 

 various parts of the south-western coasts of Australia, and it appears 

 to be ... abundant in the plains ... in the neighbourhood of 

 Perth in Western Australia." He quotes Gilbert to the effect that 

 "it is one of the most destructive animals to the garden of the settler 

 that occurs in Western Australia, almost every kind of vegetable 

 being attacked by it, but especially peas and beans." 



Thirty-five years ago it was "very abundant in many parts of the 

 South-West, differing curiously from the insular form in not occur- 

 ring near the coast." It did not then appear "to exist on the main- 

 land to the north of the Swan River." Specimens were recorded from 

 Arthur River, Woyaline Wells, Boyadine-Dale River, and Dwala- 

 dine. (Shortridge, 1910, pp. 822-823, fig. 258.) 



More recently "this species, which was once very common in the 

 interior, is now confined to the Great Southern area between Beverley 

 in the north and Kojonup in the South" (Glauert, 1933, p. 26). 



The reduction in range suggests little hope for survival unless 

 there exists a suitable reserve from which foxes can be excluded 

 (E. Le G. Troughton, in Hit., April 16, 1937) . 



[On the islands of Sharks Bay, Western Australia, occurs the 

 typical subspecies, Lesueur's Rat-kangaroo (B. I. lesueur (Quoy and 

 Gaimard)), which has survived in considerable numbers, probably 

 owing to the protection afforded by an insular habitat. Glauert 

 (1933, p. 26) extends the range of this form far north along the 

 coast of Western Australia: "Years ago the animal was common 



