The banded hare-wallaby, mernine, or munning (Lagostrophus fasciatus) is a marsupial currently found on the islands of Bernier and Dorre off western Australia. Reintroduced populations have recently been established on islands and fenced mainland sites, including Faure Island
Evidence suggested that the mernine was the only living member of the sthenurine subfamily, and a recent osteology-based phylogeny of macropodids found that the banded hare-wallaby was indeed a bastion of an ancient lineage, agreeing with other (molecular) appraisals of the evolutionary history of L. fasciatus. However, the authors' analysis did not support the placement of the mernine within Sthenurinae, but suggest it belongs to a plesiomorphic clade which branched off from other macropodids in the early Miocene and founded the new subfamily Lagostrophinae. This new subfamily includes the banded hare-wallaby and the fossil genus Troposodon. The species has been successfully reintroduced to Faure Island and Dirk Hartog Island in Shark Bay, and to a large fenced reserve at Mount Gibson Sanctuary in Western Australia.
Although the banded hare-wallaby was once found across the south-western portion of Australia, it is believed to have been extinct on the mainland since 1963, and the last recorded evidence of the banded hare-wallaby on the Australian mainland was in 1906. The devastation of the species possibly can be attributed to the loss of habitat to the clearing of vegetation, the loss of food (due to competition with other animals), and predators.
Diversity
Two subspecies are recognized: