Crescent nail-tail wallaby

Onychogalea lunata

Blamed on foxes

IUCN status: Extinct

Last seen: Onychogalea lunata were last seen in 1952 (1950-1954) in Wheatbelt, WA (IUCN 2023)

IUCN claim: “This species was probably extirpated by predation from introduced foxes and cats.”

Studies in support

Crescent nail-tail wallabies were last confirmed in the Wheatbelt (two records) and Nullarbor 10-39 and 7-23 years after foxes arrived, respectively (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Studies not in support

Crescent nail-tail wallabies were last confirmed in western NSW (two records) and southwest WA 53-20 and 27-2 years before foxes arrived, respectively (Wallach and Lundgren 2025).

Is the threat claim evidence-based?

In two regions the extirpation records pre-date the fox arrival records.

Evidence linking Onychogalea lunata to foxes. Last records of extirpated populations relative to earliest local records of foxes. Error bars show record uncertainty range. Predator arrival records were digitized from Fairfax 2019.

References

Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).

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