Lagostrophus fasciatus fasciatus
| Banded hare-wallaby | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Subfamily: | Lagostrophinae |
| Genus: |
Lagostrophus Thomas, 1897 |
| Species: | L. fasciatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Lagostrophus fasciatus (Péron & Lesueur, 1807) |
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| Subspecies | |
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| Banded hare-wallaby range (red — native, pink — reintroduced) |
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The banded hare-wallaby or munning (Lagostrophus fasciatus) is a marsupial that is currently found on the Islands of Bernier and Dorre off western Australia. A small population has recently been established on Faure Island and it appears to have been successful. It has also been reintroduced to Wadderin Sanctuary, near Narembeen in the central wheatbelt, in 2013. Evidence suggested that the mernine was the only living member of the sthenurine subfamily, and a recent osteology-based phylogeny of macropodids found that the banded hare-wallaby was indeed a bastion of an ancient lineage, agreeing with other (molecular) appraisals of the evolutionary history of L. fasciatus. However, the authors analysis did not support the placement of the mernine within Sthenurinae, but suggest it belongs to a plesiomorphic clade which branched off from other macropodids in the early Miocene and put forward the new subfamily Lagostrophinae. Recent analysis of mtDNA extracted from fossils of the sthenurine Simosthenurus supports this conclusion. This new subfamily includes the banded hare-wallaby and the fossil genus Troposodon.
The banded hare-wallaby is nocturnal and tends to live in groups at nesting sites; this species is quite social. Nesting occurs in thickets under very dense brush. This macropod prefers to live in Acacia ligulata scrub. Males are extremely aggressive. The average banded hare-wallaby weighs 1.7 kg, with females weighing more than males. It measures about 800mm from the head to the end of the tail, with the tail almost the same length (averaging 375mm) as the body. The banded hare-wallaby has a short nose. Long, grey fur is speckled with yellow and silver and fades into a light grey on the underbelly. There is no color variation on the face or head, the coloring is solid grey. Dark, horizontal stripes of fur start at the middle of the back and stop at the base of the tail.
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Wikipedia