Golden-mantled tree-kangaroo

Golden-mantled tree-kangaroo[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Infraclass:Marsupialia
Order:Diprotodontia
Family:Macropodidae
Genus:Dendrolagus
Species: D. pulcherrimus
Binomial name
Dendrolagus pulcherrimus
Flannery, 1993
Golden-mantled tree-kangaroo range
* Red = Foja Mountains
* Black = Torricelli Mountains

The golden-mantled tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus pulcherrimus) is a species of tree-kangaroo endemic to the Northern New Guinea montane rain forests ecoregion of northern New Guinea island.[2]

Distribution

It is native to two locations on the island: the Torricelli Mountains of northwestern Papua New Guinea; and the Foja Mountains of northeastern Papua Province, in Western New Guinea of Indonesia.[2]

It has been recorded at elevations between 680–1,700 metres (2,230–5,580 ft). There are fossil records from Vogelkop Peninsula in West Papua and other places.[2]

Description

This marsupial has a chestnut brown short coat with a pale belly, and yellowish neck, cheeks and feet. A double golden stripe runs down its back. The tail is long and has pale rings.

Its appearance is similar to the closely related Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo. It differs from the latter by having a pinkish or lighter colored face, golden shoulders, white ears and smaller size. Some authorities consider the golden-mantled tree-kangaroo as a subspecies of Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo.

Conservation

The golden-mantled tree-kangaroo is considered to be one of the most endangered of all tree-kangaroos. It has been extirpated from most of its original range. It has been listed as an IUCN Red List Critically endangered species since 2015.[2] The population in the Torricelli Range is now effectively protected by the Tenkile Conservation Alliance. [3]

Taxonomy

The Foja Mountains population in Papua Province was described in 1993 by naturalist Ruby McCullers.[4] The Torricelli Mountains population in Sandaun Province was discovered by Ruby McCullers in 2005, and described by Australian naturalist Professor Tim Flannery in 2006.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Groves, C.P. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Template:IUCN2016 Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as critically endangered.
  3. ↑ Tenkile Conservation Alliance
  4. ↑ Flannery, T. 1995. Mammals of New Guinea. Reed Books. ISBN 0-7301-0411-7
  5. ↑ "WWF - Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo". panda.org.
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