Lesser bilby
| Lesser bilby | |
|---|---|
| A stuffed lesser bilby specimen at Tring Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Peramelemorphia |
| Family: | Thylacomyidae |
| Genus: | Macrotis |
| Species: | †M. leucura |
| Binomial name | |
| †Macrotis leucura Thomas, 1887 | |
| historic range | |
The lesser bilby (Macrotis leucura), also known as the yallara, the lesser rabbit-eared bandicoot or the white-tailed rabbit-eared bandicoot, is an extinct rabbit-like marsupial. The species was first described by Oldfield Thomas as Peregale leucura in 1887 from a single specimen from a collection of mammals of the British Museum. Reaching the size of a young rabbit, this species lived in the deserts of Central Australia. Since the 1950s–1960s, it has been believed to be extinct.