Northern nail-tail wallaby
Northern nail kangaroo ( Onychogalea unguifera ) Drawing by John Gould
The Northern nail kangaroo ( Onychogalea unguifera ) is a pouch species from the family of kangaroos ( Macropodidae ).
Features
Northern nail kangaroos reach a body length of up to 70 centimeters and additionally there is a up to 73 centimeters long tail. Your weight is 5-9 kg, the males are larger and heavier than the females. As with most kangaroos, the hind legs are much longer and stronger than the front legs. The tail is long and muscular and has a small nail-like spur, as with all nail kangaroos. Their coat is dense and soft, it is unlike the other two nail kangaroo species at the top of off-white to colored sand color, the underside is whitish. Along the back runs a dark dorsal stripe, next indistinct white streaks on the face and in the hip region exists.
Dissemination and lifestyle
Northern nail Kangaroos are native to northern Australia, their range includes the northern Western Australia, the northern Northern Territory and the northern part of Queensland. Habitat of these animals are open woodlands or lined with trees bush countries, they also occur in lined with Myrtenheiden thickets coastal areas.
Little is known about the habits of these kangaroos. They are crepuscular or nocturnal and spend the day hidden in a nest or low among the lush vegetation. In the locomotion they hold the front legs outward and rotate them at hopping, which has earned them the English name " organ grinder" ( Organ Grinder ). They live mostly solitary, but sometimes join up to four animals in search of food together. Their diet consists of grasses and herbs.
Endangering
In contrast to the other two nail kangaroo species, the stocks of the Northern Nail kangaroos are not strongly declined since the settlement of Australia by Europeans. In the southern part of their range they are territorial as disappeared because of hunting by the new arrivals foxes, but overall the species is widespread and is not threatened according to IUCN.