guy shortridge searched extensively for this species on his collecting expedition near bremer bay, finding "potorous gilbertii" skulls at caves near margaret river, but could only provide the historical details of this species provided to him in his 1910 report. the information he reported—assumed to be from nyungar informants—was that the species became extinct in 1905, were similar to the quokka in range and habits, and had been commonly found and often captured in large quantities. the remains were examined the following year, along with the remains of a dibbler, which was found along with the "p. gilbertii" remains in a deposit beneath a moving dune system. another set of bones were found in an midden beneath a large peppermint ("agonis flexuosa"), which was assumed to be the feeding roost of a predatory bird such as an owl. this site, near hunter river, was partly preserved by a sand dune and included species introduced after the colonisation of australia, possibly placing the date of these remains within recent history. sub-fossil remains identified as "p. platyops" were also found in a survey of deposits on the eyre peninsula, accumulations that may have been middens of pre-colonial peoples of the region.