There are three subspecies of black-flanked rock-wallaby:
1. Petrogale Iateralis lateralis (black-flanked rock-wallaby) which is patchily distributed through most of Western Australia south of the Kimberley;
2. Petrogale Iateralis hacketti (Recherche rock-wallaby), found only on three islands in the Archipelago of the Recherche in Western Australia;
3. Petrogale Iateralis pearsoni (Pearson island rock-wallaby), found on islands off South Australia.
There are also two races of black-flanked rock-wallaby:
1. Petrogale Iateralis MacDonnell Ranges race, found throughout central Australia
2. Petrogale Iateralis west Kimberley race, known from the Grant, Edgar and Erskine ranges in the west Kimberley (also known as wiliji by Traditional Owners of this region).
This species is known by many names in English and traditional Indigenous Australian languages, including: warru (or waru), black-flanked rock-wallaby, black-footed rock-wallaby, side-striped rock-wallaby, bokal, moororong, kakuya , lungkarrpa, pakultarra, rukapiki, tanpa, tjinangalku, tjirti, wartilara, wokartji, arrwe or kavtetve. The Latin name, Petrogale lateralis, means ‘notable-sided rock-weasel’– although these sweet animals look nothing like a weasel, and are not even distantly related to them.