Macropods are marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

s belonging to the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Macropodidae, which includes kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...

s, wallabies

Wallaby

A wallaby is any of about thirty species of macropod . It is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or wallaroo that has not been given some other name.-Overview:...

, tree-kangaroo

Tree-kangaroo

Tree-kangaroos are macropods adapted for life in trees. They are found in the rainforests of New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland, and nearby islands. Although most are found in mountainous areas, several species also occur in lowlands, such as the aptly named Lowlands Tree-kangaroo...

s, pademelon

Pademelon

Pademelons are small marsupials of the genus Thylogale. They are usually found in forests. Pademelons are the smallest of the macropods...

s, and several others. Macropods are native to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, and some nearby islands. Before Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an settlement of Australia, there were about 53 species of Macropods. Six species have since become extinct. Another 11 species have been greatly reduced in numbers. Other species (e.g. Simosthenurus

Simosthenurus

Simosthenurus is a genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia in the Pleistocene. The members of the genus are large, Simosthenurus occidentalis weighed over 118 kilograms....

, Propleopus

Propleopus

Propleopus is an extinct genus of marsupial. Two species are known, P. chillagoensis from the Plio-Pleistocene and P. oscillans from the Pleistocene. In contrast to most other kangaroos, and similar to its small extant relative, the Musky Rat-kangaroo, it was probably omnivorous.-References:*John...

, Macropus titan

Macropus titan

Macropus titan is an extinct Australian vertebrate species belonging to the family Macropodidae , the same family as the kangaroos. M. titan lived during the Pleistocene.-External links:*...

) became extinct after the Australian Aborigines

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 arrived and before the Europeans arrived.

Physical description

Although there were carnivorous kangaroos

Propleopus

Propleopus is an extinct genus of marsupial. Two species are known, P. chillagoensis from the Plio-Pleistocene and P. oscillans from the Pleistocene. In contrast to most other kangaroos, and similar to its small extant relative, the Musky Rat-kangaroo, it was probably omnivorous.-References:*John...

 in the past, modern macropods are herbivorous

Herbivore

Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...

: some are browsers

Browsing (predation)

Browsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high growing, generally woody, plants such as shrubs. This is contrasted with grazing, usually associated with animals feeding on grass or other low vegetation...

, but most are grazers

Grazing

Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...

 and are equipped with appropriately specialised teeth

Tooth

Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...

 for cropping and grinding up fibrous plants, in particular grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

es and sedge

Cyperaceae

Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...

s. In general, macropods have a broad, straight row of cutting teeth at the front of the mouth, no canine

Canine tooth

In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, fangs, or eye teeth, are relatively long, pointed teeth...

 teeth, and a gap before the molar

Molar (tooth)

Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. In many mammals they grind food; hence the Latin name mola, "millstone"....

s. The molars are large and, unusually, do not appear all at once but a pair at a time at the back of the mouth as the animal ages, eventually becoming worn down by the tough, abrasive grasses and falling out. Most species have four molars and, when the last pair is too worn to be of use, they starve

Starvation

Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...

 to death. The dental formula for macropods is

Like the eutheria

Eutheria

Eutheria is a group of mammals consisting of placental mammals plus all extinct mammals that are more closely related to living placentals than to living marsupials . They are distinguished from noneutherians by various features of the feet, ankles, jaws and teeth...

n ruminant

Ruminant

A ruminant is a mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first compartment of the stomach, principally through bacterial actions, then regurgitating the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chewing it again...

s of the northern hemisphere (sheep, cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

, and so on), macropods have specialised digestive systems that use a high concentration of bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

, protozoans, and fungi in the first chamber of a complex stomach to digest plant material. The details of organisation are quite different, but the end result is somewhat similar.

Macropods vary in size considerably but most have very large hind legs and a long, powerfully muscle

Muscle

Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...

d tail

Tail

The tail is the section at the rear end of an animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, reptiles, and birds...

. The term macropod comes from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 for "long foot" and is appropriate: most have a very long, narrow hind foot with a distinctive arrangement of toe

Toe

Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being digitigrade. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being plantigrade; unguligrade animals are those that walk on hooves at the tips of...

s: the fourth toe is very large and strong, the fifth toe moderately so, the second and third are fused and the first toe is usually missing. The short front legs have five separate digits. Some macropods have 7 carpal bones instead of the usual 8 in mammals http://home.brisnet.org.au/~mccready/Swamp%20Wallaby.htm. All have relatively small heads and most have large ear

Ear

The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....

s, except for tree-kangaroo

Tree-kangaroo

Tree-kangaroos are macropods adapted for life in trees. They are found in the rainforests of New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland, and nearby islands. Although most are found in mountainous areas, several species also occur in lowlands, such as the aptly named Lowlands Tree-kangaroo...

s, which must move quickly between tight branches. The young are born very small and the pouch

Pouch (marsupial)

The pouch is a distinguishing feature of female marsupials ; the name marsupial is derived from the Latin marsupium, meaning "pouch". Marsupials give birth to a live but relatively undeveloped fetus called a joey. When the joey is born it crawls from inside the mother to the pouch...

 opens forward.

The unusual development of the hind legs is optimised for economical long distance travel at fairly high speed. The greatly elongated feet provide enormous leverage for the strong legs. But there is more to the famous kangaroo hop: kangaroos and wallabies have a unique ability to store elastic strain energy in their tendons. In consequence, most of the energy required for each hop is provided "free" by the spring action of the tendons (rather than by muscular effort). The main limitation on a macropod's ability to leap is not the strength of the muscles in the hindquarters. It is the ability of the joints and tendons to withstand the strain of hopping.

In addition, there is a linkage between the hopping action and breathing. As the feet leave the ground, air is expelled from the lungs by what amounts to an internal piston; bringing the feet forward ready for landing fills the lungs again, providing further energy efficiency. Studies of kangaroos and wallabies have demonstrated that, beyond the minimum energy expenditure required to hop at all, increased speed requires very little extra effort (much less than the same speed increase in, say, a horse, a dog, or a human), and also that little extra energy is required to carry extra weight — something that is of obvious importance to females carrying large pouch young.

The ability of larger macropods to survive on poor-quality, low-energy feed, and to travel long distances at high speed without great energy expenditure (to reach fresh food supplies or waterholes, and to escape predators) has been crucial to their evolutionary success on a continent that, because of soil fertility and low, unpredictable average rainfall, offers only very limited primary plant productivity.

Gestation

Gestation

Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....

 in macropods lasts about a month, being slightly longer in the largest species. Typically, only a single young is born, weighing less than 1 gram (0.035273962105112 oz) at birth. They soon attach themselves to one of four teats inside the mother's pouch. The young leave the pouch after 5–11 months, and are weaned

Weaning

Weaning is the process of gradually introducing a mammal infant, either human or animal, to what will be its adult diet and withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk.The process takes place only in mammals, as only mammals produce milk...

 after a further 2–6 months. Macropods reach sexual maturity at 1–3 years of age, depending on species.

Fossil record

The earliest known fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 macropod dates back about 11.61mya to 28.4mya, either in the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 or Late Oligocene, and was uncovered in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. Unfortunately, the fossil could not be identified any further than the family. A Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 fossil of a species similar to Hadronomas has been dated at around 5.33mya to 11.61mya, falling in the Late Miocene

Late Miocene

The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch....

 or Early Pliocene. The earliest completely identifiable fossils are from around 5.33mya.

Classification

There are two living subfamilies in the Macropodidae family: Lagostrophinae is represented by a single species, the Banded Hare-wallaby

Banded Hare-wallaby

The Banded Hare-wallaby or Mernine is a marsupial that is currently found on the Islands of Bernier and Dorre off western Australia. A small population has recently been established on Faure Island and it appears to have been successful...

; the remainder, about 60 species, makes up the subfamily Macropodinae.

• FAMILY MACROPODIDAE
  • Genus †Watutia
  • Genus †Dorcopsoides
  • Genus †Kurrabi
  • Subfamily †Potoroinae
    • Tribe †Potoroini
      • Genus †Propleopus
        Propleopus
        Propleopus is an extinct genus of marsupial. Two species are known, P. chillagoensis from the Plio-Pleistocene and P. oscillans from the Pleistocene. In contrast to most other kangaroos, and similar to its small extant relative, the Musky Rat-kangaroo, it was probably omnivorous.-References:*John...
        
        Longman, 1924
  • Subfamily Lagostrophinae
    • Genus Lagostrophus
      • Banded Hare-wallaby
        Banded Hare-wallaby
        The Banded Hare-wallaby or Mernine is a marsupial that is currently found on the Islands of Bernier and Dorre off western Australia. A small population has recently been established on Faure Island and it appears to have been successful...
        
        , Lagostrophus fasciatus
    • Genus †Tropsodon
  • Subfamily Sthenurinae
    Sthenurinae
    Sthenurinae is a sub-family within the marsupial family Macropodidae, meaning 'short faced kangaroos'. No members of this subfamily remain extant today, with all becoming extinct by the late Pleistocene. Procoptodon goliah, the largest macropodid known to have existed, was a sthenurine...
    
    
    • Genus †Sthenurus
      Sthenurus
      Sthenurus is an extinct genus of kangaroo. With a length of about 3 m , some species were twice as large as modern extant species. Sthenurus was related to the better-known Procoptodon.-Fossil habitats:...
      
      
    • Genus †Procoptodon
      Procoptodon
      Procoptodon was a genus of giant short-faced kangaroo living in Australia during the Pleistocene epoch. P. goliah, the largest known kangaroo that ever existed, stood approximately 2 meters tall. They weighed about ....
      
      
    • Genus †Hadronomas
    • Genus †Eosthenurus
  • Subfamily †Balbarinae
    • Genus †Nambaroo
      Nambaroo
      Nambaroo is an extinct genus of macropod marsupial from the late Oligocene some 25 million years ago of Australia.-Sources:* at National Geographic...
      
      
    • Genus †Wururoo
    • Genus †Ganawamaya
    • Genus †Balbaroo
    • Genus †Silvaroo
      Silvaroo
      Silvaroo is a genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia in the Pleistocene. Based on fossil evidence and affinities with the extant forest wallabies from the genera Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus from Papua New Guinea, the two species of this genus were removed from the genus Protemnodon...
      
      
  • Subfamily Macropodinae
    Macropodinae
    Macropodinae is a subfamily of marsupials in the family Macropodidae, which includes the kangaroos, wallabies, and related species. The subfamily includes about ten genera and at least 51 species. It includes all living members of the Macropodidae except for the Banded Hare-wallaby , the only...
    
    
    • Genus †Prionotemnus
    • Genus †Congruus
    • Genus †Baringa
      Baringa
      Baringa is a village in Tshuapa District, Befale Territory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.It stands on the banks of the Maringa River at approximately 100 km upriver from Basankusu....
      
      
    • Genus †Bohra
    • Genus †Synaptodon
    • Genus †Fissuridon
    • Genus †Protemnodon
      Protemnodon
      Protemnodon is a genus of megafaunal macropods that existed in Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea in the Pleistocene. Based on fossil evidence it is thought that Protemnodon was physically similar to wallabies but far larger; Protemnodon hopei was the smallest in the genus weighing about 45...
      
      
    • Genus Dendrolagus: tree-kangaroo
      Tree-kangaroo
      Tree-kangaroos are macropods adapted for life in trees. They are found in the rainforests of New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland, and nearby islands. Although most are found in mountainous areas, several species also occur in lowlands, such as the aptly named Lowlands Tree-kangaroo...
      
      s
      • Grizzled Tree-kangaroo
        Grizzled Tree-kangaroo
        The Grizzled Tree-kangaroo is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in foothill forest in northern and western New Guinea. It is also known from the island of Yapen, while its occurrence on Salawati and Waigeo is uncertain....
        
        , Dendrolagus inustus
      • Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo
        Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo
        Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo is a heavy-bodied tree-kangaroo found in rain forests of the Atherton Tableland Region of Queensland. Its status is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, although local authorities classify it as rare...
        
        , Dendrolagus lumholtzi
      • Bennett's Tree-kangaroo
        Bennett's Tree-kangaroo
        Bennett's Tree-kangaroo, or Dendrolagus bennettianus, is a large tree-kangaroo. Males can weigh from 11.5 kg up to almost 14 kg , while the females range between about 8 to 10.6 kg...
        
        , Dendrolagus bennettianus
      • Ursine Tree-kangaroo
        Ursine Tree-kangaroo
        The Ursine Tree-kangaroo is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to the Vogelkop and possibly the Fak-fak peninsulas, West Papua, Indonesia. It is threatened by habitat loss....
        
        , Dendrolagus ursinus
      • Matschie's Tree-kangaroo
        Matschie's Tree-kangaroo
        Matschie's Tree-kangaroo , also known as the Huon Tree-kangaroo is a tree-kangaroo native to the Huon Peninsula of North Eastern New Guinea...
        
        , Dendrolagus matschiei
      • Doria's Tree-kangaroo
        Doria's Tree-kangaroo
        Doria's Tree-kangaroo is a tree-kangaroo found in montane forests of New Guinea at elevations between 600-3650m. It is mostly solitary and nocturnal...
        
        , Dendrolagus dorianus
      • Goodfellow’s Tree-kangaroo, Dendrolagus goodfellowi
      • Lowlands Tree-kangaroo
        Lowlands Tree-kangaroo
        The Lowland Tree Kangaroo is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss....
        
        , Dendrolagus spadix
      • Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo
        Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo
        The Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to montane forests of northern New Guinea. It has chestnut brown short coat with a pale belly, and yellowish neck, cheeks and feet. A double golden stripe runs down its back...
        
        , Dendrolagus pulcherrimus
      • Seri's Tree-kangaroo
        Seri's Tree-kangaroo
        Seri's Tree-kangaroo, Dendrolagus stellarum, is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to montane forests of west-central New Guinea...
        
        , Dendrolagus stellarum
      • Dingiso
        Dingiso
        The Dingiso , also known as Bondegezou , is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to Western New Guinea of Indonesia, where it lives in alpine forests in the Sudirman Range at elevations of 3250 to 4200 m, just below the tree line.It was first filmed for the BBC documentary South Pacific in...
        
        , Dendrolagus mbaiso
      • Tenkile
        Tenkile
        The Tenkile , also known as Scott's Tree-kangaroo, is a species of tree-kangaroo in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to a very small area of the Torricelli Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.The Tenkile...
        
        , Dendrolagus scottae
    • Genus Dorcopsis
      Dorcopsis
      The dorcopsises are the marsupials of the genera Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus. They are found in the tropical forests of New Guinea and Southeast Indonesia. They are placed in the subfamily Macropodinae, along with other Australasian marsupials such as wallabies, kangaroos, tree-kangaroos, pademelons,...
      
      
      • Brown Dorcopsis
        Brown Dorcopsis
        The Brown Dorcopsis is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to the lowlands of West New Guinea and the nearby Indonesian islands in West Papua of Misool, Salawati, and Yapen....
        
        , Dorcopsis muelleri
      • White-striped Dorcopsis
        White-striped Dorcopsis
        The greater forest wallaby or white-striped dorcopsis is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....
        
        , Dorcopsis hageni
      • Black Dorcopsis
        Black Dorcopsis
        The Black Dorcopsis or Black Forest Wallaby is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss....
        
        , Dorcopsis atrata
      • Gray Dorcopsis
        Gray Dorcopsis
        The Gray Dorcopsis is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea....
        
        , Dorcopsis luctuosa
    • Genus Dorcopsulus
      Dorcopsulus
      Dorcopsulus is a genus of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It contains the following species:* Macleay's Dorcopsis * Small Dorcopsis...
      
      
      • Small Dorcopsis
        Small Dorcopsis
        The Lesser Forest-wallaby or Small Dorcopsis is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss....
        
        , Dorcopsulus vanheurni
      • Macleay's Dorcopsis
        Macleay's Dorcopsis
        Macleay's Dorcopsis , also known as the Papuan Dorcopsis or the Papuan Forest-wallaby, is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss....
        
        , Dorcopsulus macleayi
    • Genus Lagorchestes
      Lagorchestes
      Lagorchestes is a genus containing all but one of the species referred to as hare-wallabies. It has four species, two of which are extinct:* ††Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes asomatus...
      
      
      • †Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby
        Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby
        The Lake Mackay Hare-wallaby , also known as the Central Hare-wallaby or Kuluwarri, is an extinct species of macropod formerly found in central Australia. Very little is known about it....
        
        , †Lagorchestes asomatus
      • Spectacled Hare-wallaby
        Spectacled Hare-wallaby
        The Spectacled Hare-wallaby is a species of macropod found in Australia and New Guinea. In Australia, a small sub-population is found on Barrow Island, while the mainland type is widespread, though in decline, across northern regions of the country.-Description:A species of Lagorchestes,...
        
        , Lagorchestes conspicillatus
      • Rufous Hare-wallaby
        Rufous Hare-wallaby
        The rufous hare-wallaby , also known as the Mala, is a small macropod found in Australia. It was formerly widely distributed across the western half of the continent but is now confined to Bernier Island and Dorre Island Islands off Western Australia...
        
        , Lagorchestes hirsutus
      • †Eastern Hare-wallaby
        Eastern Hare-wallaby
        The Eastern Hare-wallaby , once also known as the Common Hare Wallaby, is an extinct species of wallaby that was native to southwestern Australia. It was first described by John Gould in 1841.-Description:...
        
        , †Lagorchestes leporides
    • Genus Macropus
      Macropus
      Macropus is a marsupial genus that belongs to the family Macropodidae, it has 14 species which are further divided into 3 subgenera. The genus includes all terrestrial kangaroos, wallaroos and several species of wallaby. The term itself is derived from the Ancient Greek makros "long" and pous...
      
      
      • Subgenus Notamacropus
        • Agile Wallaby
          Agile Wallaby
          The Agile Wallaby , also known as the Sandy Wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in Australia's north....
          
          , Macropus agilis
        • Black-striped Wallaby
          Black-striped Wallaby
          The Black-striped Wallaby , also known as the Scrub Wallaby, is a medium-sized wallaby found in Australia, from Townsville in Queensland to Narrabri in New South Wales. In New South Wales it is only found west of the Great Dividing Range. It is decreasing in these areas, but is not classified as...
          
          , Macropus dorsalis
        • Tammar Wallaby
          Tammar Wallaby
          The Tammar Wallaby , also known as the Dama Wallaby or Darma Wallaby, is a small member of the kangaroo family and is the model species for research on kangaroos and marsupials. It is found on offshore islands on the South Australian and Western Australian coast...
          
          , Macropus eugenii
        • †Toolache Wallaby
          Toolache Wallaby
          The Toolache Wallaby or Grey's Wallaby is an extinct species of wallaby from south-eastern South Australia and South-western Victoria. Many people considered it to be the most elegant, graceful and swift species of kangaroo. It had fine fur with alternating bands of darker and lighter grey across...
          
          , †Macropus greyii
        • Western Brush Wallaby
          Western Brush Wallaby
          The Western Brush Wallaby , also known as the Black-gloved Wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in southwestern Western Australia. The main threat towards it seems to be predation by the introduced Red Fox...
          
          , Macropus irma
        • Parma Wallaby
          Parma Wallaby
          The Parma Wallaby was first described by British naturalist John Gould in about 1840. A shy, cryptic creature of the wet sclerophyll forests of southern New South Wales, it was never common and, even before the end of the 19th century, it was believed to be extinct...
          
          , Macropus parma (rediscovered, thought extinct for 100 years)
        • Pretty-faced Wallaby, Macropus parryi
        • Red-necked Wallaby
          Red-necked Wallaby
          The Red-necked Wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial macropod, common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania.- Description :...
          
          , Macropus rufogriseus
      • Subgenus Osphranter
        • Antilopine Kangaroo
          Antilopine Kangaroo
          The Antilopine Kangaroo sometimes called the Antilopine Wallaroo or the Antilopine Wallaby, is a species of macropod found in northern Australia: in Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, the Top End of the Northern Territory, and the Kimberley region of Western Australia...
          
          , Macropus antilopinus
        • Woodward's Wallaroo
          Woodward's Wallaroo
          Woodward's Wallaroo , also known as the Black Wallaroo and Bernard's Wallaroo, is a species of macropod restricted to a small, mountainous area in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, between South Alligator River and Nabarlek...
          
          , Macropus bernadus
        • Eastern Wallaroo
          Eastern Wallaroo
          The Eastern Wallaroo also known as the Common Wallaroo or the Hill Wallaroo is part of the Wallaroo family . It is a large, variable species of macropod ....
          
          , Macropus robustus
        • Red Kangaroo
          Red Kangaroo
          The Red Kangaroo is the largest of all kangaroos, the largest mammal native to Australia, and the largest surviving marsupial. It is found across mainland Australia, avoiding only the more fertile areas in the south, the east coast, and the northern rainforests.-Description:This species is a very...
          
          , Macropus rufus
      • Subgenus Macropus
        • Western Grey Kangaroo
          Western Grey Kangaroo
          The Western Grey Kangaroo is a large and very common kangaroo or macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland...
          
          , Macropus fuliginosus
        • Eastern Grey Kangaroo
          Eastern Grey Kangaroo
          The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is a marsupial found in southern and eastern Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Forester Kangaroo...
          
          , Macropus giganteus
    • Genus Onychogalea
      • Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby
        Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby
        Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby refers to Onychogalea fraenata, an endangered species of marsupial. It is a small wallaby found in three isolated areas in Queensland, Australia, and whose population is declining...
        
        , Onychogalea fraenata
      • †Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby
        Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby
        The Crescent Nail-tail Wallaby was a nail-tail wallaby that lived in the woodlands and scrubs of the west and centre of Australia. It had silky fur and, like other nail-tail wallabies, had a horny spur at the tip of its tail. It was the size of a hare and was the smallest nail-tail wallaby at...
        
        , †Onychogalea lunata
      • Northern Nail-tail Wallaby
        Northern Nail-tail Wallaby
        The Northern Nail-tail Wallaby , also known as the Sandy Nail-tail Wallaby, is a species of macropod found in Queensland, Western Australia and Northern Territory. Unlike the Bridled Nail-tail Wallaby , the Northern Nail-tail Wallaby is not a threatened species. The only other member of the genus,...
        
        , Onychogalea unguifera
    • Genus Petrogale
      • P. brachyotis species-group
        • Short-eared Rock-wallaby
          Short-eared Rock-wallaby
          The Short-eared Rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby found in northern Australia, in the northernmost parts of Northern Territory and Western Australia...
          
          , Petrogale brachyotis
        • Monjon
          Monjon
          The Monjon , also known as the Warabi and Burbridge's Rock Weasel, is the smallest of the many species of rock-wallaby found in Australia. It is found in areas of the Kimberley region of Western Australia and also on some islands in the Bonaparte Archipelago.The Monjon was described in 1978, having...
          
          , Petrogale burbidgei
        • Nabarlek
          Nabarlek
          The Nabarlek , also known as the Pygmy Rock-wallaby or the Little Rock-wallaby, is a very small species of macropod found in northern Australia...
          
          , Petrogale concinna
      • P. xanthopus species-group
        • Proserpine Rock-wallaby
          Proserpine Rock-wallaby
          The Proserpine Rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby restricted to a small area in the in Conway National Park, Dryander National Park, Gloucester Island National Park, and around the town of Airlie Beach, all in Whitsunday Shire in Queensland, Australia...
          
          , Petrogale persephone
        • Rothschild's Rock-wallaby
          Rothschild's Rock-wallaby
          Rothschild's Rock-wallaby , sometimes known as the Roebourne Rock-wallaby, is a species of macropod found in Western Australia, in the Pilbara district and the Dampier Archipelago...
          
          , Petrogale rothschildi
        • Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby
          Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby
          The Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby is a member of the macropod family ....
          
          , Petrogale xanthopus
      • P. lateralis/penicillata species-group
        • Allied Rock-wallaby
          Allied Rock-wallaby
          The Allied Rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is very similar to six other species of rock-wallaby found in this area, including the Cape York Rock-wallaby , the Unadorned Rock-wallaby , and Herbert's Rock-wallaby The Allied Rock-wallaby...
          
          , Petrogale assimilis
        • Cape York Rock-wallaby
          Cape York Rock-wallaby
          The Cape York Rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby restricted to Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related rock-wallabies, all found in northeastern Queensland, also including the Mount Claro Rock-wallaby , the Mareeba...
          
          , Petrogale coenensis
        • Godman's Rock-wallaby
          Godman's Rock-wallaby
          Godman's Rock-wallaby is a diprotodont marsupial, and a rather typical rock-wallaby. It is found in northern and north-eastern Queensland, Australia. This rock-wallaby is found in low open forest, open scrub, or montane regions, often near the coast. It shelters in rocky terrain adjacent to...
          
          , Petrogale godmani
        • Herbert's Rock-wallaby
          Herbert's Rock-wallaby
          Herbert's Rock-wallaby is a member of a group of seven very closely related rock-wallabies found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. Herbert's is the most southerly and most widespread of the group....
          
          , Petrogale herberti
        • Unadorned Rock-wallaby
          Unadorned Rock-wallaby
          The Unadorned Rock-wallaby is a member of a group of closely related rock-wallabies found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is paler than most of its relatives and even plainer, hence its common name....
          
          , Petrogale inornata
        • Black-flanked Rock-wallaby
          Black-flanked Rock-wallaby
          The Black-flanked Rock-wallaby , also known as the Black-footed Rock-wallaby or Warru, is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus Petrogale.-Description:...
          
          , Petrogale lateralis
        • Mareeba Rock-wallaby
          Mareeba Rock-wallaby
          The Mareeba Rock-wallaby is a species of rock-wallaby found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related species which also include the Cape York Rock-wallaby , the Unadorned Rock-wallaby and the Allied Rock-wallaby The Mareeba Rock-wallaby...
          
          , Petrogale mareeba
        • Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
          Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
          The Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby or Small-eared Rock-wallaby is a kind of wallaby, one of several rock-wallabies in the genus Petrogale. It inhabits rock piles and cliff lines along the Great Dividing Range from about 100 km north-west of Brisbane to northern Victoria, in vegetation ranging from...
          
          , Petrogale penicillata
        • Purple-necked Rock-wallaby
          Purple-necked Rock-wallaby
          The Purple-necked Rock-wallaby was first classified in 1924 by Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, then director of the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, who noted a strange purple colouration around the neck as well as skull differences separating it from other rock-wallaby species...
          
          , Petrogale purpureicollis
        • Mt. Claro Rock-wallaby
          Mt. Claro Rock-wallaby
          The Mount Claro Rock-wallaby , also known as Sharman's Rock-wallaby, is a species of rock-wallaby found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related species also including Godman's Rock-wallaby and Herbert's Rock-wallaby The Mount Claro...
          
          , Petrogale sharmani
    • Genus Setonix
      • Quokka
        Quokka
        The Quokka , the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family , the Quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal...
        
        : Setonix brachyurus
    • Genus Thylogale
      • Tasmanian Pademelon
        Tasmanian Pademelon
        The Tasmanian Pademelon , also known as the Rufous-bellied Pademelon or Red-bellied Pademelon, is the sole endemic species of pademelon found in Tasmania, and formerly throughout south-eastern Australia...
        
        , Thylogale billardierii
      • Brown's Pademelon
        Brown's Pademelon
        Brown's Pademelon is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It...
        
        , Thylogale browni
      • Dusky Pademelon
        Dusky Pademelon
        The dusky pademelon or dusky wallaby is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is found in the Aru and Kai islands and the Trans Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion of Papua Province of Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea...
        
        , Thylogale brunii
      • Calaby's Pademelon
        Calaby's Pademelon
        Calaby's Pademelon , also known as the Alpine Wallaby, is a species of marsupial in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland...
        
        , Thylogale calabyi
      • Mountain Pademelon
        Mountain Pademelon
        The Mountain Pademelon is a member of the Thylogale genus. It is found only in Papua New Guinea....
        
        , Thylogale lanatus
      • Red-legged Pademelon
        Red-legged Pademelon
        The Red-legged Pademelon is a species of small macropod found on the northeastern coast of Australia and in New Guinea. In Australia it has a scattered distribution from the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland to around Tamworth in New South Wales...
        
        , Thylogale stigmatica
      • Red-necked Pademelon
        Red-necked Pademelon
        The Red-necked Pademelon is a forest-dwelling marsupial living in the eastern coastal region of Australia. Mainly nocturnal, the Red-necked Pademelon is very shy and generally inhabits temperate forests near grassland, hiding in the forests by day and emerging into the grasslands to graze in the...
        
        , Thylogale thetis
    • Genus Wallabia
      • Swamp Wallaby
        Swamp Wallaby
        The Swamp Wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the Black Wallaby, with other names including Black-tailed Wallaby, Fern Wallaby, Black Pademelon, Stinker , and Black Stinker...
        
        or Black Wallaby, Wallabia bicolor

External links

• Australian Department of the Environment and Heritage