Godman rock kangaroo
| Godman rock kangaroo | ||||||||||||
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| Petrogale godmani | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1923 |
The Godman rock kangaroo ( Petrogale godmani ) is a species of kangaroo belonging to the rock kangaroo genus . It lives in a small area in the east of the Cape York Peninsula north of the upper reaches of the Mitchell River .
features
Males reach a head body length of 49 to 57 cm and have a 49 to 64 cm long tail and a weight of 4.1 to 5.9 kg. The females measured so far had a head body length of 41 to 53 cm, a 46.5 to 54 cm long tail and a weight of 3.2 to 5 kg. The fur color varies and is adapted to the color of the rocks on which the animals live. The back is usually gray-brown, but it can also be blackish. The underside, limbs and base of the tail are lighter colored. The front and rear feet are usually darker than the arms and legs. The face and limbs can also be cinnamon in color. A horizontal light stripe runs along the cheeks. The rear third to half of the tail is slightly bushy and whitish in color. The diploid genome of Petrogale godmani comprises 2n = 20 chromosomes .
Habitat and way of life
The Godman rock kangaroo lives in rocky regions and in canyons that lie in open grasslands. In the hot summer it is nocturnal, in the other seasons it is twilight and sometimes diurnal. On cold days the animals sun themselves sitting on rocks in the morning before leaving the rocks to eat. Females have a single cub per year. The way of life of the Godman rock kangaroo probably corresponds to that of the variable rock kangaroo ( Petrogale assimilis ). Details are not known.
Systematics
The Godman rock kangaroo was first described in 1923 by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas . For a long time it was considered a subspecies of the Queensland rock kangaroo ( P. inornata ), later of the brush- tailed rock kangaroo ( P. pennicillata ). Only in 1982 did it regain its status as an independent species. The Cape York rock kangaroo ( P. coenensis ), which occurs further north , was only described in 1992 as a species independent of the Godman rock kangaroo. In the south of its range, the Godman rock kangaroo hybridizes with the Mareeba rock kangaroo ( P. mareeba ). Within the genus of rock kangaroos ( Petrogale ) it belongs to the lateralis / penicillata species group.
Danger
The Godman rock kangaroo is listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened. In its spread area of a little more than 20,000 km² there are around 10 isolated rock areas, the area of which is a little larger than 2000 km², in which the animals actually occur. They are still relatively common there. The total population is estimated at around 10,000 animals. Young Godman rock kangaroos could be preyed on by feral domestic cats. The Rinyirru National Park is in the distribution area .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Mark Eldridge & Graeme Coulson: Family Macropodidae (Kangaroos and Wallabies). Page 718 in Don E. Wilson , Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. Lynx Editions, 2015, ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6
- ↑ Petrogale godmani in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2016 Posted by: Woinarski, J. & Burbidge, AA, 2014. Accessed March 22, 2018th
