Antilopine kangaroo

species of mammal
(Redirected from Macropus antilopinus)

The antilopine kangaroo (Macropus antilopinus), also called the antilopine wallaroo or the antilopine wallaby, is a large macropod that lives only in the tropical areas of northern Australia.[3] They live in Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland, the "Top End" of the Northern Territory, and the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They live in groups feeding on the open grass lands.[4] Antilopine kangaroos are often in groups of all males, or all females.[5]

Antilopine kangaroo [1]
Antilopine kangaroo
Scientific classification
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Binomial name
Macropus antilopinus
(Gould, 1842)
Pink areas show where Antilopine Kangaroos live.[5]

The male is a red colour and females are grey. The males can get as big as 70 kg, but the females are usually around 30 kg.[6] It is slightly smaller than the red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) and the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus).[4] Babies are born in the summer (February-March), and leave the mother's pouch in Novemember, at the start of the wet season[5]

Climate change could mean that this kangaroo could become extinct in the future.[5]

References change

  1. Groves, Colin (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
  2. Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group (1996). Macropus antilopinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 30 December 2006.
  3. Tropical Savannas CRC.[permanent dead link]
  4. 4.0 4.1 Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press. pp. 110.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ritchie, E.G. (2009). "The Ecology, conservation status and management of a tropical kangaroo, the Antilopine Wallaroo (Macropus antilopinus) on Cape York Peninsula". apscience.org.au. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  6. The Kangaroo Trail Fact Sheet, 2007, retrieved July 20, 2008

Other websites change