Eastern Irmawallaby
| Eastern Irmawallaby | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eastern Irmawallaby, drawing by John Gould |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Macropus greyi | ||||||||||||
| Waterhouse , 1845 |
The Eastern Irmawallaby ( Macropus greyi ) is an extinct species of kangaroo from the subgenus of the wallabies ( Notamacropus ).
Eastern Irma Wallabies were relatively small representatives of the Wallabies. They had the typical build of most kangaroos with the long, powerful hind legs, the muscular tail and the short front paws. Their fur was predominantly gray in color, the underside was lighter, the hands and feet were black. At the end of the tail was a tassel with light hair.
These kangaroos lived in southeastern Australia. Their distribution area covered the southeast of South Australia and possibly adjacent parts of Victoria . Their habitat were open areas such as heather and grasslands. They lived in groups and ate mostly grass.
It was considered common until the early 20th century, when populations began to decline dramatically. The reasons for this lay on the one hand in the conversion of their habitat into grazing areas, on the other hand in the stalking by imported predators and third in the hunting - both because of their fur and for sporting reasons. The last known specimen in the wild died in 1924, some animals in captivity survived until 1937.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
Web links
- Macropus greyi onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved May 12, 2009.