Overview
The Banded Hare-wallaby (Lagostrophus fasciatus), locally known as the murning, is one of Australia’s most evolutionarily precious marsupials. It represents the sole surviving member of the ancient sthenurine macropod lineage—a distinct subfamily of short-faced, browsing kangaroos that flourished across Pleistocene Australia. Entirely extirpated from the Australian mainland by the early 20th century due to invasive predators, this small, beautifully striped wallaby survived exclusively on two tiny, predator-free islands in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
The banded hare-wallaby is easily distinguished by its thick grizzled silver-gray fur patterned across the lower back with a striking series of dark, transverse blackish-brown bars that taper toward the rump. Its muzzle is noticeably shorter and more blunt than other wallabies, supporting high-crowned molars engineered to pulverize fibrous coastal scrub and dry halophytic shrubs. Its hind feet feature elongated syndactylous digits with powerful claws, allowing it to spring rapidly through tangled vegetation. Unlike true kangaroos, its tail is relatively slender, functioning primarily as a dynamic balancing organ rather than a supportive fifth limb.
Behavior and Ecology
Social yet combative, banded hare-wallabies construct communal tunnel networks within dense, thorny thickets of Acacia ligulata and coastal scrub, where they shelter from harsh midday temperatures and predatory wedge-tailed eagles. At night, they emerge to browse on foliage, herbs, and succulents, obtaining almost all of their hydration directly from plant tissues without ever needing open drinking water. Females breed continuously under favorable rainfall, carrying a single joey in their forward-opening pouch for roughly six months.
Conservation and Human Impact
Once widespread across southwestern Australia, mainland populations vanished entirely by the 1920s following the introduction of red foxes and feral cats, compounded by habitat clearing for pastoral sheep grazing. Listed as Vulnerable, the species has been the focus of landmark translocation programs under the ‘Return to 1616’ ecological restoration initiative, successfully establishing healthy wild insurance colonies on Dirk Hartog Island and Faure Island following extensive predator eradication.
Interesting Factoid
The Banded Hare-wallaby is the absolute last living relative of the giant, short-faced Pleistocene monster kangaroos (Procoptodon) that stood nearly ten feet tall and went extinct over 40,000 years ago!
Last updated: October 2026