Broad-faced Potoroo

The broad-faced potoroo is a member of the genus Potorous. It is described as having a relatively broad skull and shorter muzzle. The species is presumed to have become extinct sometime after the last recorded capture of the animal in 1875, and sometime before 1905. The colour of the pelage is greyish brown at the upper-side. Straw-yellow hairs are interspersed through the fur to give a streaked effect. The underside and the flanks are pale grey. The head and body are about 305 millimetres in length, while the tail is about 178 mm long. Their hind feet are about 54 mm in length and their weight is approximately 800 grams. Their noses are short and blunt, which is an unusual characteristic among potorines and is usually associated with species such as the rufous bettong (Aepyprymnus rufescens) and the desert rat-kangaroo (Caloprymnus campestris).

The few records of live specimens are restricted to Southwest Australia. The species could have already been near-extinct when Gilbert obtained his specimen, and no specific localities are known with any certainty. Sub-fossil remains indicate a wide distribution range, extending from the southern to the western regions of Australia, including Nullarbor Plain, and perhaps as far north as the Northwest Cape region. Remains have also been found on Kangaroo Island. Some evidence indicates that P. platyops, like the desert-dwelling rat-kangaroo (Caloprymnus campestris), was already in decline when the invasive European rabbit became established in the species' former range.

The behaviour of the species has not been recorded, and nothing is known of its diet. The scant record of its habitat includes those provided by John Gilbert's informants, one of whom said, "All I could glean of its habits was that it was killed in a thicket surrounding one of the salt lagoons in the interior". An assessment of documents prior to the 20th century concluded the only ecological change to affect the population were anecdotal reports of a "disease", similar to one that had resulted in the sudden absence of similar species. A synthesis combining other historical evidence proposes what may have been an epizootic during the 1890s that precipitated their extinction. No historical evidence could be found to link the conclusion of South African collector Guy C. Shortridge, writing in 1910, that ecological changes such as bushfire and the introduction of cats were directly linked to the species' decline. Guy Shortridge searched extensively for this species on his collecting expedition near Bremer Bay, finding Potorous gilbertii skulls at caves near Margaret River, but could only provide the historical details of this species provided to him in his 1910 report. …