page_title: Crescent nail-tail wallaby
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Crescent nail-tail wallaby / Description
caption_attribution_description: Plate in Gould's Mammals of Australia volume 2. The title is the caption in that work, and may be a synonym. The file was uploaded with the current name in the category, a crop and other adjustments were made to the image. The caption and other details were removed.
context_page_description: The crescent nail-tail wallaby, also known as the worong, is a small species of marsupial that grazed on grasses in the scrub and woodlands of southwestern and central Australia. They were common in Western Australia before they disappeared in the early 20th century and persisted in the central deserts until at least the 1950s. The pelage was soft and silky and an ashen grey colouring overall, highlighted in part with rufous tones. There were light and dark patches of fur across the body, the moon-like crescents inspiring their names, and had attractive stripes on the face. Like the two remaining species of the genus, the northern Onychogalea unguifera and rare O. fraenata, it had a horny spur at the tip of its tail. The species was compared to a hare or rabbit, in its habits, appearance and taste, and weighed around 3.5 kilograms.
  The species was extremely timid and would flee to a hollow log if disturbed at their daytime resting places, a small patch of sand cleared near a large shrub or tree. They ran with their short forelimbs awkwardly held toward the chest.
context_section_description: A species of Onychogalea, presumed to be extinct. They were one of the three known species of the genus, named for their distinctive tails that possessed a nail or claw-like tip. The animal was distinguished by a whitish crescent shaped mark that extends from the shoulder behind the arm, through the flank, and terminated in a point above the leg.
  A distinctly contrasting striping extends along the length of the hind limb, from the thigh to the hip and in a line to the knee. 
  The weight of the species was around 3.5 kilograms, smaller than others of the genus. The head and body length combined was from 370 to 510 millimetres, greater than the tail length of 150 to 330 mm.
  The upper-parts of the pelage were an ash-grey colour, broken by the light crescent markings and a short blackish crest of hair along the top of tail.
  A less distinct blackish mark at either side of the muzzle reached from the nose to the eye.
  Oldfield Thomas gave a diagnosis of the three species, distinguishing their superficial characters and tabulating a close comparison of their cranial measurements. This species was regarded by Thomas as more closely allied to Onychogalea fraenata, both in size and skull morphology. The undercoat of the fur was relatively long, with hair that was slate-grey at the base and paler towards its tips; the texture of the pelage was woolly and soft.
  The relatively light skull was flattened at the forehead, dentition was also small and light; teeth such as the canines were tiny and probably purposeless. Their muzzle narrowed to a pointed shape, accentuated by the appealing light and dark markings of the face.
  The species was hunted for food by the English settlers of southwest Australia, who described the flesh as white, resembling chicken and having a flavour similar to rabbit.
caption: Illustration of male with female in background (Gould; Richter, 1863)
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