Endemic Animals of Western Australia

The Shark Bay mouse is a long-haired, robust rodent, with the nickname ‘shaggy mouse’, due to its shaggy fur, which is pale yellow-fawn and gray on its back, giving it a grizzled look, fading into buff on its sides and white below. Its tail is slightly longer than its head and body and is gray on top and white below, and on the tip is a dark tuft of hair. Less

Dibblers are found in south-western Australia. The natural range of this species includes Fitzgerald River National Park and the islands of Boullanger and Whitlock, while translocated populations inhabit Escape Island, Peniup, and Stirling Range National Park. The ideal habitat for these marsupials is dense heath environment with areas of sandy soil. Less

Gilbert’s potoroo is a small marsupial species, which was believed to be extinct since the early 1900s and rediscovered in 1994 at Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve near Albany (Western Australia). When moving fast, these animals hop on their hind legs. When moving slowly, they put their forefeet on the ground. The forefeet of these marsupials are well-developed and used in digging. When standing, the potoroo seems to be hunched. Instead of looking d ...
irectly, its eyes look slightly upwards. The animal is able to dig as well as easily grasp and handle objects due to its long and curved claws. There is no reliable information on the life expectancy on these animals. However, they are thought to live as long as their close relatives, Long-nosed potoroos, which usually live up to 7 years in the wild and as much as 12 years in captivity. Less

Generally, the Quokka has a typical appearance for a wallaby: short, extremely coarse, and thick fur, which is grey-brown overall with lighter under part; short tail, which is mostly without hair; and hair of its feet, which extend to the claws. Willem de Vlamingh, an early Dutch explorer, described this animal as 'a kind of rat, as big as a common cat'. The scientist first saw the Quokka on an island off the mouth of the Swan River, which he ...
named after this animal - Rottnest (or 'rat nest') Island. Less

Western quolls are about the size of a domestic cat. They are coloured a rufous brown and have 40–70 white spots on their backs with a creamy white underside. Their spots actually help diminish their outline from the moon at night when these animals hunt. Western quolls have five toes on their hind feet and granular pads. With large eyes and pointed ears, they are well adapted for nocturnal life. They have a black brush on their tails that e ...
xtends from halfway down to the tip. Females in this species are smaller than males. Less

Zaglossus hacketti is an extinct species of long-beaked echidna from Western Australia that is dated to the Pleistocene. It is known only from a few bones. It was about 1 m long and probably weighed about 30 kg . This makes it the largest monotreme known to have ever lived. Due to the lack of cranial material, placement of Z. hacketti into the modern long-beaked echidna genus Zaglossus is uncertain. Less

The pygmy python, also known as the anthill python, is a species of snake found in Western Australia. Their common names refer to the fact that they are the smallest member of the family Pythonidae and are often found in termite mounds. The specific epithet is derived from the state capital, Perth, despite the fact that this place is not within the range of the species. No subspecies are currently recognized. Less

The western brush wallaby, also known as the black-gloved wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in the southwestern coastal region of Western Australia. The wallaby's main threat is predation by the introduced red fox . The IUCN lists the western brush wallaby as Least Concern, as it remains fairly widespread and the population is believed to be stable or increasing, as a result of red fox control programs. The western brush wallaby has a grey ...
colour with distinctive white colouring around the face, arms and legs . It is an unusually diurnal macropod that eats mainly grass. Less

The western rufous bristlebird, also known as the rufous bristlebird, the south-western rufous bristlebird or the lesser rufous bristle bird, is an extinct and little-known subspecies of the rufous bristlebird that was endemic to Western Australia. Less

The western Lewin's rail, also known as Cleland's rail, Lewin's rail or the Lewin water rail, is an extinct and little known subspecies of Lewin's rail that was endemic to Western Australia. There are only four specimens, one in the Australian Museum and three in the British Museum. The subspecific name honours Australian ornithologist John Burton Cleland. Less

The copperback quail-thrush is a species of bird in the family Psophodidae. It was split from the chestnut quail-thrush in 2015. It is endemic to Australia. Its natural habitat is Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation. Less

Muir's corella is a stocky, medium-sized white cockatoo endemic to Western Australia. It was the threatened nominate subspecies of the western corella. It was removed from the WA's threatened species list in November 2012 as a result of successful conservation efforts. Less

The Heard Island shag, or Heard Island cormorant, is a marine cormorant native to the Australian territory comprising the Heard and McDonald Islands in the Southern Ocean, about 4100 km south-west of Perth, Western Australia. Less

Microcarbo serventyorum, also referred to as Serventys' cormorant, is an extinct species of small cormorant from the Holocene of Australia. It was described by Gerard Frederick van Tets from subfossil skeletal material found in 1970 in a peat swamp at Bullsbrook, Western Australia. The pelvic features indicate that the bird was adept at foraging in confined wetlands such as swamps with dense vegetation, small pools and narrow streams. The ...
specific epithet honours the brothers Dominic and Vincent Serventy for their contributions to knowledge of Australian cormorants. Less

The Abrolhos painted buttonquail is a subspecies of the painted buttonquail endemic to the Houtman Abrolhos. It is common on North Island, and also occurs on other islands of the Wallabi Group, namely East Wallabi, West Wallabi, Seagull and Pigeon Islands. Less

The rufous grasswren is an insectivorous bird in the family Maluridae. It is found in Australia. Less

King's skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Less

The rough-scaled python is a large-scaled python species endemic to Australia. No subspecies are currently recognized. Less

The mulga dragon is a species of agamid lizard found in Western Australia. The species is up to 250 mm long, the length from snout to vent is 95 mm, with a long, slender tail that ends abruptly. The patterning over the legs and body is grey and brownish streaks. This provides an excellent camouflage on mulga trees, its usual habitat, it is also found beneath mulga leaf litter. Diporiphora amphiboluroides generally remains motionless and ...
unobserved, this allows it to operate as an ambush predator and elude animals that would prey on it. Less

The Kimberley death adder is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae native to northwestern Australia. Less

Pogona minor minima, the Abrolhos bearded dragon or Abrolhos dwarf bearded dragon, is an agamid lizard found only on islands at Houtman Abrolhos, and commonly named for this location. It is closely related to other bearded dragons found in Western Australia. Less

Liasis olivaceus barroni is a python found in the Pilbara region of northwest Australia. They are recognised as a subspecies of Liasis olivaceus, separating the population from the olive python found to the east. It is a large snake, most often around 2.5 metres in length, although individuals may attain a larger size. The python is an ambush predator, using a sit and wait method at a path or beneath the water to capture a variety of animals ...
that inhabit the arid surroundings. The range of prey includes amphibians, birds and other reptiles, and mammals as large as a rock wallaby. Less

The Pilbara monitor, also known as Bush's monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Less

The Dampier Peninsula monitor or Dampier Peninsula goanna, described in 2014, is the smallest known species of monitor lizard, growing up to 16.3 grams with a length of almost 23 cm and a SVL of 116 mm. It is believed to live only on the Dampier Peninsula of the Kimberley region north of Broome and Derby in Western Australia. It is highly active, making it difficult to photograph in the wild. It has short legs, an elongate body, a reddish-brown ...
back with widely scattered black spots and "a ridged, circular and short prehensile tail.""sparnos is Greek for 'rare' or 'scarce' in reference to this species' isolation and small range on the Dampier Peninsula. Latinised to sparnus, and used as an adjective". Less

The stripe-tailed goanna, also known as the line-tailed pygmy monitor is a semi-arboreal species of monitor lizard native to Western Australia. Less

Rhinoplocephalus is a genus of seasnake in the family Elapidae. The genus is monotypic, containing the sole species Rhinoplocephalus bicolor, known commonly as Müller's snake, Muller's snake, and the square-nosed snake. The species is endemic to Australia. Less

Chelodina steindachneri, commonly known as the dinner-plate turtle or Steindachner's turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Chelidae. The species is the least known of the Australian turtles and also one of the smallest members of the long-necked turtles of the genus Chelodina. It is a member of the subgenus Chelodina making it closely related to the Chelodina longicollis group of species. Less

The spotted mulga snake is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Western Australia. It is a member of the genus Pseudechis, dangerously venomous snakes that can intimidate an opponent by raising the head and presenting a hood. This cobra-like threat display is supported by the ability to produce a very large amount of venom. Less

Ctenophorus ornatus, the ornate crevice-dragon or ornate dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is found on granite outcrops of Western Australia. Less

The Pilbara death adder, also known commonly as Wells' death adder, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is one of the four members of the genus Acanthophis, a genus which is found throughout northwestern and southwestern Australia and some parts of southern Papua New Guinea. The species Acanthophis wellsi is endemic to Western Australia. Less

The south-western spiny-tailed gecko, also known commonly as the soft spiny-tailed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Diplodactylidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Two subspecies are recognized. Less

Fraser's delma is a species of lizard in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Western Australia. Less

Crenadactylus ocellatus, also known as the southwestern clawless gecko or western clawless gecko, is the smallest species of nocturnal Gekkonidae found in Australia. Less

The Lancelin Island skink, also known commonly as the Lancelin south-west ctenotus, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Less

The javelin lizard is a species of lizard in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Australia. Less

Crenadactylus pilbarensis is a species of gecko found in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They resemble other species of the genus Crenadactylus, tiny clawless Australian geckos found across a large area of the continent, but has persisted as an ancient lineage in a region of the northwest. Less

Delma grayii, also known as side-barred delma or Gray's legless lizard, is a species of lizard in the Pygopodidae family endemic to Australia. Less

Ctenophorus adelaidensis, commonly known as the western heath dragon is a species of agamid lizard occurring in sandplains with heath and banksia along the lower coast of Western Australia, between Kalbarri and Perth. Adults are grey in colour, with dark blotches. They are relatively slow compared to other Ctenophorus species, preferring to scuttle rather than sprint. Less

The short-nosed snake is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to Australia. Less

The slender slider is a species of lizard in the family Pygopodidae. Less