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Macropodidae
A Macropodide is a family of mammals in the order of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies and rat-kangaroos.
The name of the group derives from the distinctive characteristic of its members, namely their extraordinarily developed hind legs, which make possible their typical hopping mode of locomotion. Like most marsupials, macropodids are restricted to Australia and nearby islands.
The family is divided into two subfamilies: the macropodines, which include the true kangaroos and the wallabies, and the potoroines, the rat-kangaroos, generally smaller than the former and characterized by different dentition.
Kangaroos and wallabies
[edit | edit source]Kangaroos and wallabies, which have a rather similar physical structure, are distinguished from one another mainly by size: the true kangaroos are roughly as tall as a human, while wallabies are around 50 cm in height. There are several species of the latter, adapted to different habitats.
The red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) belongs to the same genus as kangaroos; it is a robust species that lives in forested environments. Wallabies of the genus Lagorchestes, which have an appearance and size similar to those of a hare, are therefore known by the common name hare-wallabies. Rock wallabies (genus Petrogale) are agile climbers, while those of the genus Onychogalea are distinguished by a tail that ends in a horny, claw-like projection. There are also nocturnal and arboreal wallabies, classified in the genus Dendrolagus, which are small in size and have forelimbs comparable in length to the hind limbs.
Finally, the pademelons (genus Thylogale), characterized by a tail that is on average shorter than that of other macropodids, are also part of this subfamily.
Rat-kangaroos
[edit | edit source]Rat-kangaroos are small hopping animals, similar in appearance to true rats. They should not be confused with the kangaroo rat of the family Heteromyidae, which, being rodents, are placental mammals and not related at all to these marsupials.
There are four different genera: Bettongia, Potorous, Aepyprymnus and Caloprymnus, of which only the first two still have numerous populations; the other two genera risk extinction as they are hunted both by humans and by their main natural predator, the fox. Rat-kangaroos are about the size of a rabbit; they have hind legs that are on average smaller than those of macropodines and a prehensile tail, which they use to grasp and transport materials for building their nests.
In addition to the rat-kangaroos, the musky rat-kangaroo (genus Hypsiprymnodon) is also part of the potoroines, so called because of the strong odor it emits. Slightly larger than a rat, it is characterized by hind legs with five toes and by an almost completely bare, scaly tail. Unlike all other macropodids, it has a first toe on the hind legs that lacks a claw. It lives in rainforests, feeding on plants but also insects and small invertebrates. According to some scientists, it may have particular affinities with marsupials of the family Phalangeridae.
Scientific classification: Macropodids constitute a family within the order of marsupials, class mammals, subphylum vertebrates, phylum chordates.
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