Mountain Bush Kangaroo
| Mountain Bush Kangaroo | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dorcopsulus vanheurni | ||||||||||||
| Thomas , 1922 |
The mountain bush kangaroo ( Dorcopsulus vanheurni ), also known as the little bush kangaroo , is a species of the bush kangaroo group . It lives in the Central Mountains of New Guinea and in the mountains of the Huon Peninsula .
features
Male mountain bush kangaroos reach a head-trunk length of 34 to 41 cm and have a 26 to 40 cm long tail. The females measured so far had a head-trunk length of 31 to 44 cm and a tail 22 to 34.5 cm long. The weight of the animals is 1.5 to 2.3 kg. The back is dark red-brown to chocolate-brown. The back fur shines. The belly is lighter, light gray-brown to whitish. The limbs are the same color as the body, but in some specimens they are greyish. The tail has a bushy fur at its base, the third distant from the body is hairless and dark.
Compared to the closely related Macleay bush kangaroo ( Dorcopsulus macleayi ), which occurs partly in the same area in the east , the mountain bush kangaroo is smaller, has more rounded ears, has a darker, more shiny coat and a longer tail. The tip of the Macleay bush kangaroo is white.
Habitat and way of life
The mountain bush kangaroo is diurnal and lives in the mountains of New Guinea in primary and secondary mountain rainforests at altitudes of 800 to 3100 meters. Little is known about the way of life. It nourishes plant-based leaves and fruits. Well-known food plants are figs , pangiun and syzygium . Mushrooms are also consumed, including those growing underground. The females have a single cub per year. Reproduction takes place all year round.
Danger
The mountain bush kangaroo is listed by the IUCN as Near Threatened. It is heavily hunted by humans and New Guinea dingoes and has now disappeared in parts of the original range ( Hunstein Mountains and Schrader Mountains ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Mark Eldridge & Graeme Coulson: Family Macropodidae (Kangaroos and Wallabies). Pages 694-695 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
- ↑ Dorcopsulus vanheurni in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2016. Posted by: Leary, T., Singadan, R., Menzies, J., Helgen, K., Allison, A., James, R., Flannery, T. , Aplin, K., Dickman, C. & Salas, L., 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
