[4] It is identified by its compartively larger size and bicoloured fur patterning (typically grey dorsally and white ventrally).

[8] The sandhill dunnart usually moves by running smoothly on all four legs, sometimes with sudden short stops, during which they often squat with the forebody slightly elevated.

[9] The species prefers to eat invertebrate prey, such as ants, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, termites, wasps and centipedes.

[6] In the Western Great Victoria Desert, the sandhill dunnart has an ant-rich diet, commonly consuming Camponotus spp.

[10] In severe conditions when food is scarce, the sandhill dunnart enters short and shallow periods of torpor.

[13] Sandhill dunarts are typically solitary and nocturnal, emerging shortly after dusk and foraging almost continuously until dawn.

Individuals were detected near Mulga Rockhole in 1985 and later in/near Queen Victoria Spring Nature Reserve and near Tropicana Gold Mine.

[17] Each stronghold is genetically differentiated, based on the frequency of microsatellite alleles and CR haplotypes, and should be considered as distinct Management Units for conservation.

[16] Yellabinna and Western Australian populations share a mtDNA haplotype, indicating historical connectivity across the southern Great Victoria Desert.

[16] No significant genetic structure or sex-biased dispersal was detected locally, suggesting that both sexes are highly mobile.

[17] Due to the cessation of suitable spinifex habitats in the south, the Great Victoria Desert populations are at risk of extinction by 2070.

[6][21] In Western Australia, long unburned (32+ years since fire), dense lower stratum (usually spinifex) sand plain and dune slope habitats are preferred.

In South Australia, complex habitats with an abundance of logs and spinifex hummocks over 40 cm high are important for S.

[13][21] There is a preference for ‘Stage 3’ spinifex hummocks (fire age: 8-20 years) in areas of Eyre Peninsula.

[30][31] Predation by introduced species such as the red fox and feral cat, habitat degradation by livestock grazing, land clearance (e.g., in Eyre Peninsula where only 43 % of the original vegetation remains[6]) and changed fire regimes are likely contributors.

[35] However, the sandhill dunnart has been radio tracked to shelters in a range of fire ages, including recently burned habitats.

[6][14] If they survive wildfires, sandhill dunnarts may recolonise small patches of habitat because of their large home ranges and high mobility.

[17][36][37] Rapidly increasing temperatures, irregular rainfall patterns and more frequent/extreme events (e.g., wildfires and droughts) are particularly dangerous in Australia.

Water is already scarce, vegetation is highly flammable, and the generally flat landscape impedes elevation shifts that allow species to compensate against rising temperatures.

[38][39] Modelling predicts that under RCP 8.5 which is our current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pathway, suitable habitat for S. psammophila may reduce by 95% in Western Australia by 2050.

[6] Most significantly, mitigating the effects of climate change by reducing GHG emissions is vital for the conservation of S. psammophila and many other Australian species.