A single male specimen was collected in 1874 and deposited at the British Museum of Natural History (BMNH),[3] this skin and skull was estimated to be a near adult.

The description was re-evaluated in the late twentieth century, and recognition as a species is maintained in the third edition of The Mammals of Australia (National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife, 2008).

The hair of the pelage is longer at the nape, but mostly short elsewhere, the fur at the upper back is slightly appressed and oppositely directed for an inch either side of the centre.

[1] The record of the species was provided by the amateur collector, following a trend amongst British aristocratic explorers for assembling or trading specimen collections that were returned to England.

[1] Several possibilities have been proposed to account for this species, these include a colony blown to the islands in a cyclone, which became extinct shortly after, or that the locality of the collection was in error.