Black-striped Wallaby
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© BIOSPHOTO / AUSCAPE
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Notamacropus
- Species
- dorsalis
- Family
- Macropodidae
- Order
- Diprotodontia
- Class
- Mammalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
-
- Size Range
- 82 cm
Medium-sized grey-brown wallaby, black stripe running from the forehead down the back.
Identification
A medium-sized grey-brown wallaby, paler ventrally, with rufous forequarters and a prominent black dorsal stripe running from the forehead down the back. Nose, forepaws and toes are black. Pale cheek and horizontal hip stripe.
Habitat
Forest and woodland with dense shrub understorey, including rainforest edges, brigalow and vine thickets.
Distribution
Eastern Australia.
Feeding and diet
A shy and generally nocturnal species that spends the day resting in dense vegetation, often in large groups. Emerges in the evening, along well-established pathways, to feed at night on grasses and forbs in more open areas. Males are significantly larger than females.
Breeding behaviours
It breeds throughout the year. A single young is born after about 35 days gestation and attaches to one of four teats in the mother’s pouch, where it spends the next 6-7 months. Sexual maturity is reached at 12-18 months. Distribution is now patchy due to widespread clearing of habitat for agriculture.
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