Critical‐weight‐range marsupials in northern A ustralia are declining: a commentary on F isher et al . (2014) ‘The current decline of tropical marsupials in A ustralia: is history repeating?’

Many mammal species are declining in parts of A ustralia's tropical savannas, for reasons that are not yet well defined. A recent paper ( F isher et al ., 2014, G lobal E cology and B iogeography , 23 , 181–190) suggested that the primary cause is predation by feral cats, with the main evidence presented being a purported over‐representation of small species amongst the marsupials that have contracted in range (‘small body size signifies high current extinction risk’). However, a review here of the information presented in that paper shows that no marsupial species smaller than 100 g has shown range contraction in northern A ustralia, and that most (15 of 17) declines are of species in the ‘critical weight range’ (35 g to 5.5 kg).