84 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Glauert, in Hit., March 17, 1937) , and concern may well be felt as 

 to the possibility of its following the other two subspecies on the 

 road to extinction. 



It differs from B. p. penicillata in its generally darker coloration; 

 in the rusty red of the base and sides of the tail; in the rufous 

 coloring of the feet; in the terminal half of the tail being black 

 both above and below ; and in the longer ears and more slender tarsi 

 (Water-house, '1841, p. 186; Gould, 1863, vol. 2, p. 72). Head and 

 body, 360 mm.; tail, 310 mm. (Thomas, 1888, p. 111). 



Gould (1863, vol. 2, p. 72) quotes Gilbert's notes from Western 

 Australia: "This species appears to be equally abundant in all 

 parts of the colony, but to evince a preference, perhaps, for the 

 white-gum forests. . . . This animal is one of the favourite articles 

 of food of the natives, who are very quick in detecting the nest, and 

 generally capture the little inmate by throwing a spear through the 

 nest and transfixing it to the ground, or by placing the foot upon 

 and crushing it to death." 



Shortridge (1910, pp. 821-822, map) found it "very plentiful in 

 the South -West, where, unlike Bettongia lesueuri, it occurs near the 

 coast, extending as far north as the Moore River, becoming very 

 rare at its northern limit. Formerly recorded from Sharks Bay, 

 as so many of the other South-Western marsupials have been. 



"Although getting scarce in the more settled districts, both species 

 of Bettongia are sufficiently numerous in many places to be rather 

 destructive to crops, on which account they are often trapped and 

 poisoned off in large numbers." 



Shortridge records specimens from King River, Dwaladine, Woy- 

 aline Wells, Yallingup, and Burnside. From Perth southward, ac- 

 cording to Glauert (1933, p. 26), it "is found in the coastal area as 

 well as inland to the Great Southern and beyond." E. Le G. Trough- 

 ton remarks (in litt., April 16, 1937) that "survival there may be 

 significant of the influence of the fox not yet being fully asserted." 



Rufous Rat-kangaroo 



AEPYPRYMNUS RUFESCENS (J. E. Gray) 



Bettongia rujescens J. E. Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. (Charlesworth), vol. 1, p. 584, 

 1837. (Type locality not stated in original description, but Thomas (1888, 

 p. 104) lists the type specimen from "New South Wales.") 



FIGS.: Gould, 1841, pi. 13; Gould, 1855, vol. 2, pi. 65; Le Souef and Burrell, 

 1926, fig. 51. 



Once common over much of eastern Australia, this species has 

 largely or entirely disappeared from Victoria and New South Wales, 

 but it remains common in the Dawson and Fitzroy Valleys, Queens- 

 land. 



