Lowland tree kangaroo
| Lowland tree kangaroo | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dendrolagus spadix | ||||||||||||
| Troughton & Le Souef , 1936 |
The lowland tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus spadix ) occurs in southwest Papua New Guinea in the lowlands north of the Gulf of Papua . Originally it was considered a subspecies of the Matschie tree kangaroo ( Dendrolagus matschiei ) until it received full species status in 1990.
features
The lowland tree kangaroo is a medium-sized, stocky, dark-colored tree kangaroo. It reaches a head body length of 50 to 74.5 cm, has a 61.5 to 72 cm long tail and weighs 7 to 9.1 kg. Lowland tree kangaroos are dark maroon on the back, and the belly, face and limbs are lighter. There is a dark median strip on the back. A few specimens show a few, only indistinctly visible light stripes on the fuselage. The tail is longer than the head and trunk together and dark brown with yellowish spots that become more numerous on the underside of the tail.
Habitat and way of life
The lowland tree kangaroo lives in primary, tropical lowland rainforests up to heights of 800 meters above sea level. It is rare or absent in forests with low productivity. Like the other tree kangaroos, it probably feeds primarily on leaves and the females get a single young per year. As the animals have been little researched so far, details are not known.
The lowland tree kangaroo is classified by the IUCN as endangered ("Vulnerable"). The main reasons are the increasing hunting pressure from humans and the loss of habitat due to conversion into agricultural land.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Mark Eldridge & Graeme Coulson: Family Macropodidae (Kangaroos and Wallabies). Page 706 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
- ↑ Dendrolagus spadix in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2016. Posted by: Leary, T., Seri, L., Wright, D., Hamilton, S., Helgen, K., Singadan, R., Menzies, J. , Allison, A., James, R., Dickman, C., Aplin, K., Salas, L., Flannery, T. & Bonaccorso, F., 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2018.