Genus Dendrolagus----Tree Kangaroos

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Lumholtz's tree kangaroo - DENDROLAGUS LUMHOLTZI


Possibly Endangered


Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
Subclass: Changing Mammals (Metatheria)
Order: Pouched Mammals (Marsupialia)
Family: Macropodidae.


The name "Kangaroo": "Kangaroo" is a native Australian word, probably coming out of the Queensland area of Australia. This kangaroo lives in the trees.


Location: New Guinea, and diminishing in Australia.


Habitat: Arboreal and terrestrial. Rain forest.


Description: The tree kangaroo is a large, heavy-bodied marsupial with powerful limbs, a long cylindrical tail equal to length of its head and body, and short rounded ears. It has short soft fur, gray on the back, and lighter on the belly, with a black snout, toes, and tail tip. Its average head and body length is 26", and maximum weight is about 23 lbs.


Behavior: With enlarged front limbs, reduced hind limbs, and rough foot pads and long sharp claws, the tree kangaroo is especially well adapted to arboreal life. It climbs tree trunks, leaps 10 to 20 feet from branch to branch using its nonprehensile tail as a rudder, and normally descends to the ground slowly by shinning tail first down the trunk, as it is equally at home on the ground. If alarmed, however, it will quickly leap down from a 50 to 6O foot height, landing unharmed, rather than attempting to escape through the treetops. AIt is active at twilight and night, and eats leaves and bark high in the trees and browses on seedling trees and shrubs. By day it sleeps curled up unprotected on a branch, even during rain. Lumholtz's tree kangaroo is one of two species confined to diminishing ranges in Australia. Five species of tree kangaroos inhabit New Guinea.


Reproduction: Its breeding habits are unknown.


Go to the Marsupials Page to get a general discussion of these animals.


Or go to the Kangaroo Index to study other kangaroos.






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