The relict population at Two Peoples Bay, in 2014 around 40 individuals, had survived the factors that caused the mass decline of Australian mammals in a critical weight range of species smaller and larger than themselves.

A similar name was given in various other ways in the early wordlists of Isaac Scott Nind (nailoit) and George Fletcher Moore (garlgyte) as and others, and rendered as ngilkat in an ethnohistoric review published in 2001.

The author proposed the species name Hypsiprymnus gilbertii with an explanation in A Monograph of the Macropodidae, or Family of Kangaroos,[3]In dedicating it to Mr. Gilbert, who proceeded with me to Australia to assist in the objects of my expedition, and who is still prosecuting his researches on the northern portion of that continent, I embrace with pleasure the opportunity thus afforded me of expressing my sense of the great zeal and assiduity he has displayed in the objects of his mission; and as science is indebted to Mr. Gilbert for the knowledge of this and several other interesting discoveries, I trust that, however objectionable it may be to name species after individuals, in this instance it will not be deemed inappropriate.

[2]After the collection of the first specimen in 1840, when Gilbert had reported to Gould that the species was locally common, the success of field workers in finding the animal was little and then none until the rediscovery in the late 20th century.

Gerard Krefft also noted that George Masters, a highly active collector of the Albany district, obtained around five to eight specimens in 1866 and a pair in 1869.

Later workers known to have made extensive collections in the area, including Shortridge and John Tunney, failed to record this species in the southern districts by the end of the 19th century.

[6] The few known historical records of the potoroo are all at the southwestern coast of Southwest Australia, summarised as those around King George Sound during 1843, 1866, 1869, and 1875, and the uncertain date of 1890s to the west.

[13] No other known wild population has been found after the rediscovery at Two Peoples Bay,[7] and in November 2015 an estimated 15 of the 20 remaining individuals there were killed, and 90% of the species' habitat destroyed, by a large bushfire.

The holotype is a female skin and skull placed at the British Museum of Natural History, a specimen that was also named as Hypsiprymnus micropus G. R. Waterhouse 1841.

[17][18] Gould's description was later submerged as a subspecies or recognised as a synonym of other potoroine taxa, and was referred to as Potorous tridactylus in taxonomic and conservation listings.

[11] An analysis of the new material and revision of the genus Potorous confirmed what Gilbert had supposed when he collected the first specimen, and the taxon was again recognised as a species.

[5] Gilbert's potoroo is a small species of Potorous with a fur colour that is rufous brown across the upper side and light grey beneath.

The foraging activity of Gilbert's potoroo is nocturnal; it remains hidden in dense undergrowth during the day, and rarely crosses large open areas.

[citation needed] Study of the species' diet is limited to the relict population discovered at Two Peoples Bay, and is found to be similar to that of P. tridactylus.

[28] As with many of the potoroine species, the primary type of fungus consumed is hypogeous, with the above-ground fruiting bodies of epigeous fungi forming only a minor part of their diet.

Plant matter consumed includes leaves and stems, and invertebrates have also been recorded in the excreta; this has been regarded as incidental ingestion while eating subterranean fungi.

Scientists have tried to breed them in captivity, but recent attempts have been unsuccessful, citing diet, incompatibility, and age as possible factors that influenced the lack of reproduction.

[31] Gilbert's potoroo is one of Australia's most critically endangered mammals,[32] and is the rarest marsupial in the world,[23] but its population has increased slightly in recent years owing to translocations.

A few young were born in the first few years, but then breeding stopped due to age differences and a history of balanoposthitis, a disease that affects the male potoroo's penis and causes inflammation and ulceration if left untreated.

[33] Along with the dwindling number of the species after their rediscovery in Australia, one of the potoroos was found to have some sort of sickness when brought into captivity in early 2000.

The scientists who had brought the young male potoroo and its mother into captivity found that the animal had significant loss of appetite, and lost 32% of its body mass within a few weeks.

[23] Indigenous rangers are helping to establish and monitor the population on Middle Island, which is around 120 km (75 mi) (and a two-and-a-half-hour boat trip) south-east of Esperance.