Broad-faced potoroo

Potorous platyops

Blamed on cats

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: 1875

IUCN claim: “Predation by feral cats (severe, possibly catastrophic in combination with other threats)”

Studies in support

No studies

Studies not in support

Broad-faced potoroos were last confirmed in WA (two records) 15 years before, to 45 years after, cats arrived (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

It cannot be verrified that extinction occurred after cat arrival.

Evidence linking Potorous platyops to cats. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.
Evidence linking Potorous platyops to cats. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of cats. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Abbott 2008.

References

Abbott, The spread of the cat, Felis catus, in Australia: re-examination of the current conceptual model with additional information. Conservation Science Western Australia 7 (2008).

IUCN Red List. https://www.iucnredlist.org/ Accessed June 2023

Wallach A.D., Lundgren E.J. (2025) Review of evidence that foxes and cats cause extinctions of Australia’s endemic mammals. BioScience. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biaf046