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]

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[2]
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]

gollark: Sad. It must dislike me because of my general disdain for trees.
gollark: Do forests generally speak? Worrying.
gollark: Expedient retroactive trilateration.
gollark: Just make more alts?
gollark: Actually, bees.

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. 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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