and may be common at some locations in its broad distribution range. They occur in the northern parts of the continent, generally inland from the coastline, from the east at Cape York Peninsula, through the Top End and through the Kimberley region to the northwestern coast. The areas occupied by Onychogalea unguifera are patchily distributed within the large range, sometimes locally common or abundant at favoured sites, and this has not known to have been greatly altered since the later 20th century. The habitat occupied by O. unguifera is most often areas dominated by tussocks of tough grasses or low shrubby plant species, vegetation interspersed with occasional trees over arid landscapes, and especially associated with the meeting of clay soils at sandy loams. The marsupial is also recorded at dense stands of Melaleuca species. The conservation status of the species was assessed for the IUCN Red List in 2015 as least concern. The population size is presumed to be large, occurs in a wide range that include conservation reserves, and is not known to be declining at a rate that threatens the species with extinction. The favoured habitat is not commonly found in the protected areas of the Northern Territory or Queensland, and the species is almost unknown in conservation zones in Western Australia; this may make O. unguifera vulnerable to threatening factors resulting from alterations to land use and fire regimes. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), deliberately introduced during colonisation and a predator of O. unguifera, is thought to have extirpated their southerly distribution range. As the fox extended its own range to the central regions of Australia, the mammal has had a major impact on the endemic population of small to medium-sized mammals, and this is recognised as a potential threatening factor if the red fox advances to the north of Australia. Research conducted by consultation with Aboriginal people of northern Australia, who are well acquainted and with the animal and capture it for food, indicated a stable population with only a slight decline in Arnhem Land. Native predators might include Crocodylus johnstoni, a smaller crocodile that occurs in fresh water, which is known to be able to consume this larger species when dead and perhaps able to capture it when alive. The remains of O. unguifera, preserved as subfossils, have been found in the Grampians region of western Victoria. Fossilised material located at a coastal site of