Overview
Distribution
Range Description
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Geographic Range
The swamp wallaby can be found on the eastern coast of Australia from southeastern South Australia, Victoria, eastern Queensland, and eastern New South Wales.
Biogeographic Regions: australian (Native )
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Physical Description
Morphology
Physical Description
The swamp wallaby is a diprotodont marsupial with a bilophodont occlusal pattern. Females have pouches that open anteriorly and contain four mammae. The forelimbs, which are significantly smaller than the hindlimbs, contain five digits and are used for eating and slower movements. The hallux is absent in the hindlimbs which are syndactylous and elongated for use in rapid bipedal motion. The fourth toe is the longest and the most specialized digit of the hindfoot. This, along with the loss of the hallux, has adapted this species for hopping. Wallabia bicolor is, on average, 70 cm tall with males weighing 12.3-20.5 kg and females weighing 10.3-15.4 kg. Body and tail length vary according to sex; males are 72.3-84.7 cm long with a tails of 69-86.2 cm and females are 66.5-75 cm in length with tails ranging from 64 to 72.8 cm. The swamp wallaby has long, coarse fur that is generally dark brown in color with darker or black limbs and tails. Many also have a light yellowish cheek stripe that begins at the lip and continues towards the upper ear.
Range mass: 10 to 20 kg.
Average mass: 15.4 kg.
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Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Habitat
Swamp wallabies generally live in, but are not restricted to, dense forests, woodlands, and swampy areas. They are known to venture into more open areas, but only if there are nearby areas of thick brush.
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
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Trophic Strategy
Food Habits
Swamp wallabies are strictly herbivorous. Their diet consists of soft plants such as buds, ferns, leaves, shrubs, and grasses. They have been known to eat bark, shoots from needle-leaf trees, and plants that can be poisonous to domesticated animals. Wallabia bicolor are browsers and use their reduced forelimbs to manipulate their food.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan/Longevity
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 12.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 15.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 12.4 years.
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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Reproduction
Swamp wallabies, both male and female, attain sexual maturity at an age of 15 months and may live up to 15 years in the wild. Females are polyestrous and are able to breed all year long. They usually give birth to one young per cycle although twins have been reported. Following its birth, the young, normally weighing less than 1g, will spend the next 8-9 months in its mother's pouch. The gestation period is 33-38 days long while the estrous cycle is on average 34 days in length. This species is unique in that it is the only marsupial whose gestation period is longer than their estrous cycle. This means that females can mate during the last few days of their pregnancy allowing them continuous breeding and birthing approximately every 8 months. After this mating, a near term fetus is growing in one uterus while the new embryo is developing in a second. The suckling of the newborn temporarily halts the development of the second embryo which remains dormant until the first young is ready to leave the pouch. At this time, the second embryo resumes development and is born 33-38 days, the length of one gestation period, later.
Average birth mass: 0.61 g.
Average gestation period: 36 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 426 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 426 days.
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Justification
History
- 2000Lower Risk/least concern
- 1996Lower Risk/least concern
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Conservation Status
A decrease in the abundance of swamp wallabies has occured due to habitat destruction and, to a lesser degree, killing by farmers. However, Wallabia bicolor is still common and these issues are not currently considered threats to its survival.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
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Trends
Population
Population Trend
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Threats
Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems
Benefits
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Because Wallabia bicolor are browsers, they sometimes damage agricultural crops. As a result, they are often shot by farmers who view them as pests.
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Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
The skins of Wallabia bicolor are often sold. Around 1500 skins are marketed each year in Queensland.
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Wikipedia
Swamp wallaby
The swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia.[3] This wallaby is also commonly known as the black wallaby, with other names including black-tailed wallaby, fern wallaby, black pademelon, stinker (in Queensland), and black stinker (in New South Wales). The swamp wallaby is the only living member of the genus Wallabia.[4]
Contents |
Habitat and distribution
The swamp wallaby is found from the northernmost areas of Cape York in Queensland, down the entire east coast and around to south-western Victoria. It was formerly found through to south-eastern South Australia, but is now rare or absent from that region.[4]
It inhabits thick undergrowth in forests and woodlands, or shelter during the day in thick grass or ferns, emerging at night to feed. Brigalow scrub in Queensland is a particularly favoured habitat.[4]
Description
The species name bicolor comes from the distinct colouring variation, with the typical grey coat of the macropods varied with a dark brown to black region on the back, and light yellow to rufous orange on the chest. A light coloured cheek stripe is usually present, and extremities of the body generally show a darker colouring, except for the tip of the tail, which is often white.[3]
The gait differs from other wallabies, with the swamp wallaby carrying its head low and tail out straight.[4]
The average length is 76 cm (30 in) for males, and 70 cm (27.5 in) for females (excluding the tail). The tail in both sexes is approximately equal in length to the rest of the body. Average weight for males is 17 kg (37 lb), females averaging 13 kg (29 lb).[4]
Reproduction
The swamp wallaby becomes reproductively viable from 15–18 months of age, and can breed throughout the year. Gestation is from 33–38 days, leading to a single young. The young is carried in the pouch from 8–9 months, but will continue to suckle until about 15 months. The swamp wallaby exhibits an unusual form of embryonic diapause, differing from other marsupials in having its gestation period longer than its oestrous cycle.[4]
Nutrition
The swamp wallaby is typically a solitary animal, but often aggregates into groups when feeding.[3] It will eat a wide range of food plants, depending on availability, including shrubs, pasture, agricultural crops, and native and exotic vegetation. It appears to be able to tolerate a variety of plants poisonous to many other animals, including brackens, hemlock and lantana.[4]
The ideal diet appears to involve browsing shrubs and bushes, rather than grazing grasses. This is unusual in wallabies and other macropods, which typically prefer grazing. Tooth structure reflects this preference for browsing, with the shape of the molars differing from other wallabies. The fourth premolar is retained through life, and is shaped for cutting through coarse plant material.[4]
According to Aboriginal people of the Bundjalung Nation, the swamp wallaby was considered inedible, due to its smell and taste after cooking.[citation needed] Commercial shooters also find it undesirable due to its small size and coarse fur.[4]
Taxonomic debate
Several physical and behavioral characteristics make the swamp wallaby different enough from other wallabies that many authors place it apart in its own genus, Wallabia.[1][3] Others however point out swamp wallabies can hybridize with Macropus agilis (the Agile Wallaby), so perhaps should be placed in the genus Macropus.[citation needed]
Gallery
Male sleeping
Female
References
- ^ a b Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. eds. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 70. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=11000314.
- ^ Menkhorst, P., Denny, M., Ellis, M., Winter, J., Burnett, S., Lunney, D. & van Weenen, J. (2008). Wallabia bicolor. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 29 December 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- ^ a b c d Merchant, J. C. (1995). Strahan, Ronald (ed). ed. Mammals of Australia (Revised ed.). Sydney: Reed New Holland Publishers. p. 409.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merchant, J. C. (1983). Strahan, Ronald (ed). ed. The Australian Museum Complete Book of Australian Mammals, The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife (Corrected 1991 reprint ed.). Australia: Cornstalk Publishing. pp. 261–262. ISBN 0-207-14454-0.
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