Elected representatives in government are in charge of the policy and funding that can make or break saving threatened species. Their decisions and actions matter.
Lingiari has or used to have 70 threatened animals within its boundaries. One of them is me, the Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat.
We took care to attach appropriate images that are as close to representative of each species as our resources and the availability of images allowed. However, we could not ensure perfect accuracy in every case. Some images show species that share the same genus but not at the species or subspecies level.
Brush-tailed Rabbit-rat
Conilurus penicillatus
Status: Vulnerable
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) lists threatened species under six categories:
Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation dependent. Read more about these categories
Conilurus penicillatus is found across 2 electorates.
The brush-tailed rabbit-rat occurs in monsoonal areas that are not burnt annually. It is active at dusk and rests during the day in dens in hollow trees with trunks at least 24 cm in diameter, in logs on the ground and occasionally in Pandanus fronds. It is an active climber, but also forages on the ground where it is very agile, bounding rapidly. It is patchily distributed throughout the Kimberley and the Top End. Extensive declines have occurred since the 1990s.¹
Explore more about this species on the Atlas of Living Australia
Adverse fire regimes
Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation
Invasive species and diseases
Explore more about the threats facing species on our Resources page.
- a shrub (Acacia equisetifolia)
- Latz's Wattle (Acacia latzii)
- Waddy (Acacia peuce)
- Birds Nest Wattle (Acacia pickardii)
- a shrub (Acacia praetermissa)
- Undoolya Wattle (Acacia undoolyana)
- Desert Flannel-flower (Actinotus schwarzii)
- Christmas Island Spleenwort (Asplenium listeri)
- Atalaya brevialata (Atalaya brevialata)
- a shrub (Boronia quadrilata)
- a shrub (Boronia viridiflora)
- Burmannia sp. Bathurst Island (Burmannia sp. Bathurst Island )
- Clausena excavata (Clausena excavata)
- Dwarf Desert Spike-rush (Eleocharis papillosa)
- a sedge (Eleocharis retroflexa)
- Rainbow Valley Fuchsia Bush (Eremophila prostrata)
- Frankenia plicata (Frankenia plicata)
- Goodenia quadrifida (Goodenia quadrifida)
- Helicteres macrothrix (Helicteres macrothrix)
- a shrub (Hibiscus brennanii)
- Hibiscus cravenii (Hibiscus cravenii)
- a vine (Hoya australis subsp. oramicola)
- Central Australian Cabbage Palm (Livistona mariae subsp. mariae)
- MacDonnell Ranges Cycad (Macrozamia macdonnellii)
- Minnie Daisy (Minuria tridens)
- a vine (Mitrella tiwiensis)
- Olearia macdonnellensis (Olearia macdonnellensis)
- a fern (Pneumatopteris truncata)
- Prostanthera schultzii (Prostanthera schultzii)
- Glory of the Centre (Ricinocarpos gloria-medii)
- a triggerplant (Stylidium ensatum)
- Tectaria devexa (Tectaria devexa)
- Mountain Thryptomene (Thryptomene wittweri)
- a tree (Toechima sp. East Alligator )
- a herb (Typhonium jonesii)
- a herb (Typhonium mirabile)
- a herb (Typhonium taylori)
- a shrub (Xylopia monosperma)
You are in federal electorate Lingiari.