Rock-wallaby

Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby ( Petrogale xanthopus )

The rock kangaroos ( Petrogale ), English rock wallabies, are a genus of the family of kangaroos ( Macropodidae ). With 16 species, they are among the most species-rich genera of this family.

General

Rock kangaroos inhabit mountain regions in the north- west, east and south-east Australia, but not in Tasmania. There are medium-sized kangaroos, except the dwarf stone kangaroo reach all kinds a body length (excluding tail ) of 50 to 80 centimeters and a weight of 3-9 kg. Characteristic of many species are stripes or patterns on their bodies.

Rock kangaroos are nocturnal and spend the day in caves or crevices hidden. They are excellent climbers, with well-developed pads give them grip on the hind feet. The long, bushy tails serve less as a prop than as Balancierhilfe at over 4 meters wide leaps over rock crevices. Like all kangaroos are herbivores, but very frugal: they feed in an emergency from tree bark or roots.

Unlike other smaller species of kangaroo family, they are less threatened and partly still widely used, perhaps because their rocky habitats for rabbits, sheep and other imported food competitors are hardly accessible.

The types

We distinguish 16 kinds, which can be divided into three groups of species:

• Brachyotis Group The short-eared rock wallaby ( P. brachyotis ) inhabits northwestern Australia. It is characterized by the remarkably short ears.
• Petrogale burbidgei is named after the dwarf stone kangaroo the second smallest kind, it lives in Kimberleyplateau in Western Australia.
• The dwarf stone kangaroo ( P. concinna ) is the smallest kind you will (without tail) only 30 cm long, 1 to 2 kg and lives in the northwest of Australia. It is sometimes classified in the genus Peradorcas.

• The Proserpine rock wallaby ( P. persephone ) is the most endangered Art It lives only in a small area on the coast of Queensland and is listed by the IUCN as threatened.
• The Rothschild - wallaby ( P. Rothschildi ) lives in the northwestern Western Australia.
• The Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby ( P. xanthopus ) applies, with its gray, white and brown patterned fur and ringed tail as the most beautiful of all kangaroos. By hunting it is extinct in part of its distribution area, protective measures have led to a recovery of the stock. Yellow-footed rock kangaroos inhabit the south-eastern Australia.

• Petrogale assimilis is located in northern Queensland.
• The Cape York rock wallaby ( P. coenensis ) is known only from three locations on the Cape York Peninsula. It should be a very rare species.
• The Godman - wallaby ( P. godmani ) is found in the eastern part of the Cape York Peninsula.
• The Herbert - wallaby ( P. herberti ) is located in southeastern Queensland.
• The Queensland - wallaby ( P. inornata ) is characterized by a uniform gray fur. It lives in eastern Queensland.
• The black paws rock wallaby ( P. lateralis) is spread over almost the whole of Australia.
• The Mareeba rock wallaby ( P. Mareeba ) lives only in the vicinity of the town of Mareeba in northern Queensland.
• The Brush -tailed Rock Wallaby ( P. pennicillata ) lives in a number of small, distributed throughout Australia areas. A small group derived from broken specimens lives on the wild belonging to Hawaiian island of Oahu.
• The purple neck wallaby ( P. purpureicollis ), whose systematic position was long disputed, is characterized by its striking coloration neck.
• The Sharman - wallaby ( P. Sharmani ) inhabited only 2000 km ² large area on the coast of Queensland.