Checklist of the Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna of Western Australia

Taxonomic checklist of the terrestrial vertebrate fauna for Western Australia

Download the latest version of the WA Checklist (2025) (updated September 2025) for the terrestrial vertebrate fauna of Western Australia. This handy Excel sheet can be modified to suit your needs or imported into other applications. Use the 'SORT' column to restore the list into taxonomic order. The file is a single Excel workbook, with separate sheets for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. 

The changes from the September 2025 checklist are documented below and can also be downloaded in pdf format. Previous changes to the checklist (2014-2025) can be found listed at the bottom of the page.

A comprehensive update of the WA Checklist is released by the WA Museum every year or as necessary. The WA checklist (2025) contains revisions of the terrestrial vertebrate species of Western Australia and additional information on the conservation status of the WA fauna (provided by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions). 

The taxonomic changes are based on the work of the WA Museum's Terrestrial Zoology staff, and their many colleagues from around Australia and beyond. In the future, we will try to update the list as new taxonomic changes occur.

Bookmark this page, and keep visiting for the latest updated version. This page is updated twice a year, in April and October.

Please contact the relevant author of the specific list if you have any questions or comments.

Changes to the WA Museum Checklist from May 2025 (updated September 2025)

Reptiles and frogs

Major rearrangement of frog genera: breakup of Litoria. The pelodryadid frog genus Litoria has been split into 32 genera now, including New Guinea and Indo-Pacific taxa. For Western Australia, the relevant changes should be visible in the emended checklist. Cyclorana remains the same.

Donnellan et al. (2025). Phylogenomics informs a generic revision of the Australo- Papuan treefrogs (Anura: Pelodryadidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society 204: zlaf015. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf015

Transfer of Cryptagama aurita to the genus Ctenophorus: Ctenophorus aurita comb. nov. Newly collected specimens of the rare Kimberley lizard, Cryptagama aurita, made possible a re- evaluation that made use of morphological and molecular genetic comparisons. The species is an early branching member of the large genus Ctenophorus and represents another independent evolution of the “pebble mimic” morphology (small, rotund body with thin tail that’s extremely camouflaged; does not flee readily).

Bruton, M., Melville, J., Sumner, J., Porter, J., Mahony, S. & Doughty, P. (2025). The last piece of the puzzle: Detection of an extremely rare lizard in the Kimberley completes the phylogeny of Australian dragons (Agamidae). Australian Journal of Taxonomy 94: 1–15. https://doi.org/10.54102/ajt

Two new species of legless geckos in the genus Delma. A genetic and morphological study of the Delma tincta species complex resulted in the recognition of two new species, with D. tincta remaining a WA species. Delma hades sp. nov. is a completely morphological cryptic species that occurs in the eastern Kimberley and possibly is more widely distribution in the Kimberley region; elsewhere it is widespread in central Australia. Delma branchia sp. nov. is the newly named Pilbara and Gascoyne regions species and is allopartric to other members of the complex; this species is distinguished by a repeating series of gill-like blotches on the neck and forebody.

Pepper, M., Doughty, P., Fletcher, J. & Keogh, J.S. (2025). Molecular and morphological assessment of the widely distributed legless gecko Delma tincta Kluge (Squamata: Pygopodidae), including a taxonomic revision. Records of the Western Australian Museum 40: 1–46. https://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/WAMRecords_2025_40_01to48_PEPPERetal.pdf

Birds

Poodytes gramineus. The subspecies previously used on the checklist for WA was P. g. gramineus. However, the reason given to use this subspecies which is typically a Tasmanian subspecies, was not clear. As a result, following the IOC list, P. g. thomasi is used here for the checklist for WA instead.

Mammals

Revision of Bettongia penicillata: new species statues in WA, 2 new subspecies, and a new species of Bettong on the Nullarbor. The recent revision of Bettongia penicillata (Woylie/Brushtail Bettong) showed that the WA population was distinct from the east coast species and as a result should be its own species, Bettongia ogilgyi. Also within this species, two new subspecies are recognised, one in the forests of south west WA, B. o. sylvatica, and one extinct from Bernier Island, B. o. odontoploica. Also a new species of Bettongia haoucharae is described from mummified specimens from the Nullarbor Plain.

Newman-Martin, J., Travouillon, K.J., Warburton, N., Barham, M. & Blyth, A.J. (2025) A taxonomic revision of the Bettongia penicillata (Diprotodontia: Potoroidae) species complex and description of the subfossil species Bettongia haoucharae sp. nov. Zootaxa, 5690 (1), 1–69. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5690.1.1

Change of genus name for Lagenorhynchus obscurus. A recent study on Lissodelphine dolphin showed that the genus Lagenorhynchus was paraphyletic. As a result a new genus was erected for two species (L. obliquidens and L. obscurus), which are now called Aethalodelphis obliquidens (Gill, 1865) and Aethalodelphis obscurus (Gray, 1828).

Galatius, A., Kinze, C.C., Olsen, M.T., Tougaard, J., Gotzek, D. & McGowen, M.R. (2025) Phylogenomic, morphological and acoustic data support a revised taxonomy of the lissodelphinine dolphin subfamily. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 205: 108299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108299