About Petrogale lateralis Gould, 1842
The black-flanked rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis Gould, 1842) is generally greyish-brown, with a paler belly and chest, a dark stripe running from its head down its spine, and dark tail and feet. Fur is short, thick, and woolly, and it is especially dense around the base of the tail, rump, and flanks. Slight color variation occurs across different subspecies. Its long tail, which helps the wallaby balance on rocky terrain, ends in a brush tip. Most of the water the black-flanked rock-wallaby needs comes from its diet, so it rarely drinks. It can also conserve water by sheltering from heat in rocky caves. In Western Australia, this wallaby inhabits mountainous areas that contain granite outcrops, sandstone cliffs, and scree slopes, alongside hummock grasses and a small number of trees and shrubs. It also lives near coastal limestone cliffs. The subspecies Petrogale lateralis lateralis is found across southern and western Western Australia. Petrogale lateralis hacketti occurs only on three islands of the Recherche Archipelago in southern Western Australia. The western Kimberley race of Petrogale lateralis is found exclusively in the Edgar Range, Erskine Range, possibly the Grant Range, and nearby areas of the west Kimberley. The MacDonnell Ranges race of Petrogale lateralis was once widespread across central desert regions of the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia, but both its distribution and population size have declined.
