1923
(1) Toolach Wallaby, Grey’s Wallaby.
WALLABIA GREYI (GRAY, WATERHOUSE, 1846)
Probably the most beautiful and elegant of all the wallabies, and very markedly distinct from every other form. Distinguished at once by its bold face markings, its banded hinder dorsal region, and its general grey fawn colouration. In general build it is light and elegant; in general colour a fine pale grey admixed with fawn. The coat is thick and rather woolly, the fur, especially over the lower portion of the back, having a somewhat crimped appearance. The face is boldly marked, a dark stripe running as a whisker mark from the muzzle to the lower border of the eye and beyond as a narrow tongue towards the ear. The muzzle, dorsal to the dark cheek stripe, is grey, changing to fawn on the crown of the head and at the base of the ears. Below the dark cheek stripe the upper lip is pale, almost white, the pale area extending past the eye and towards the ear, and then curving dorsally to form an almost white patch above the eye. The crown of the head, neck, and shoulders are delicate fawn. The ears are large and fawn coloured, both within and without. The region of the shoulder and upper part of the fore limb grey. Fore arm pale-fawn, the digits themselves being dark, almost black, in colour. The hind limb grey, with a not very well defined paler hip bar. The lower part of the hind limb pale-fawn, the digits being dark. The dorsal surface of the body fawn as far as the shoulders, and from there caudad, becoming more distinctly grey. From a point somewhat in front of the costal margin to the root of the tail the back is distinctly banded (though the bands are not equally conspicuous in all lights) with alternate bars of lighter and darker grey. These bars are marked not only by their colour, but by the texture of the fur, and as a rule some ten or twelve bands may be detected. The ventral surface is pale fawn, this colour extending to the front of the hip, anterior to the pale hip bar. The tail is pale grey, and it becomes distinctly paler towards its tip.
The skull cannot be confused with that of any other wallaby when regard is paid to its general form and its remarkably small second and third incisor teeth. The brain case is small, and relatively the nasal portion of the skull is excessively large. The nasal bones are broad and much expanded behind. The interorbital region is very broad, parallel sided, and with sharply angulated margins. All the teeth, with the exception of the first upper incisor, are extremely small; the second and third incisors are minute when comparison is made with the skull of any other wallaby which attains anything like the same general size.
The Toolach has always been confined to the South-eastern portion of South Australia. Since the animal is such a very distinct one, and an inhabitant of open country, it has for very many years been particularly well known, and many people can remember the time when Toolaches swarmed in the neighbourhood of Kingston. Being by far the fleetest of all the wallabies, its chase was at one time a very popular form of sport, and its beautiful pelts have been marketed in very large numbers in the salerooms of Melbourne. Its mode of progression, as well as its distinctive face markings, rendered it easy to recognise, since it had the peculiarity of taking two short hops and one long one. It is not correct to say that this very fine and distinctly South Australian Wallaby is extinct, for at the present moment five or six individuals still exist. Any effort to preserve this remnant must be made immediately and with vigour if it is to be of any service whatever.
The Mammals of South Australia, Govt Printer, Adelaide, 1923