Golden-mantled tree-kangaroo

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]

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

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 coloured 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. Leary, T.; Wright, D.; Hamilton, S.; Helgen, K.; Singadan, R.; Aplin, K.; Dickman, C.; Salas, L.; Flannery, T.; Martin, R.; Seri, L. (2016). "Dendrolagus pulcherrimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T136696A21957219. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T136696A21957219.en. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  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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