Tammar wallaby

Tammar wallaby
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Diprotodontia
Family: Macropodidae
Genus: Notamacropus
Species:
N. eugenii
Binomial name
Notamacropus eugenii
(Desmarest, 1817)
Current tammar wallaby range. Pink areas are where they have been reintroduced.
Synonyms[1]
  • Kangurus eugenii Desmarest, 1817
  • Macropus eugenii (Desmarest, 1817)

The tammar wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii), also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar wallaby remains common within its reduced range and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously extirpated. Skull variations differentiate between tammar wallabies from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island, and mainland South Australia, making them distinct population groups.

The tammar wallaby is among the smallest of the wallabies in the genus Notamacropus. Its coat colour is largely grey. The tammar wallaby has several notable adaptations, including the ability to retain energy while hopping, colour vision, and the ability to drink seawater. A nocturnal species, it spends the nighttime in grassland habitat and the daytime in shrubland. It is also very gregarious and has a seasonal, promiscuous mating pattern. A female tammar wallaby can nurse a joey in her pouch while keeping an embryo in her uterus. The tammar wallaby is a model species for research on marsupials, and on mammals in general. Its genome was sequenced in 2011.

  1. ^ a b Morris, K.; Friend, T.; Burbidge, A. & van Weenen, J. (2016). "Notamacropus eugenii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T41512A21953803. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T41512A21953803.en. Retrieved 2 April 2021.