# Greater bilby (*Macrotis lagotis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-bilby  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), also called the bilby, dalgyte or rabbit-eared bandicoot, is a marsupial mammal in the family Thylacomyidae and the order Peramelemorphia. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal invertivore, with adults weighing from 1.27 to 3 kg and a body length of 85 cm. Its gestation period is 15.8 days, litters hold 1 to 2 young, and it has 4 litters per year. Checklists record it in Australia, and the IUCN Red List lists it as Vulnerable, a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.27 kg – 3 kg |
| Length | 85 cm |
| Lifespan | 9.57 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 10 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 14 days – 15.8 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 – 2 |
| Age at maturity | 5.38 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 4 |
| Active | At night (nocturnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | 1 country |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Peramelemorphia
- family: Thylacomyidae
- genus: Macrotis
- species: *Macrotis lagotis* (Reid, 1837)

Synonyms: *Perameles lagotis*

## Countries on record

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

Australia

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the greater bilby?

The greater bilby is a marsupial mammal in the family Thylacomyidae, order Peramelemorphia.

### How heavy is the greater bilby?

Adult Greater bilbies weigh from 1.27 to 3 kg, with a representative weight of 1.35 kg.

### What does the greater bilby eat?

The greater bilby is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

### Is the greater bilby endangered?

The greater bilby is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.

### How long does the greater bilby live?

The greater bilby lives up to 10 years, with a representative lifespan of 9.6 years.

### How many young does the greater bilby have?

The greater bilby has 1 to 2 young per litter and 4 litters per year, after a gestation period of 15.8 days.

### Which countries is the greater bilby recorded in?

Checklists record the greater bilby in Australia.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), CC0 1.0, 1.0. Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-bilby