Leporillus apicalis (Gould 1853)

[Hapalotis] apicalis Gould 1853, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1853: 126.

Type Locality: Australia, South Australia; see Mahoney and Richardson (1988:159).

Vernacular Names: Lesser Stick-nest Rat.

Distribution: Australia: once found in S Northern Territory, C and S Western Australia, South Australia, and western parts of New South Wales and Victoria, but now presumed to be extinct; extent of former range indicated by specimens caught in late 1800s and early 1900s and distribution of empty stick nests (Mahoney and Richardson, 1988:159; Robinson, 1995 a:558; Robinson et al., 2000; Watts and Aslin, 1981:152; Williams, 1995 b).

Conservation: IUCN – Extinct (but see comments below).

Discussion: The last specimen of L. apicalis was collected near Mt Crombie in 1933, but there are recent reports from Western Australia of stick nests in caves with fresh green vegetation woven into their structure, a tantalizing sign that the species may not be extinct (Robinson, 1995 a). Former distribution, along with detailed ecological information, summarized by Copley (1999).