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Fast Facts:
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The
Bennett's Wallaby is one of over 240 species of marsupials.
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Marsupials
are found in North America, Central and South America, and Australia
and nearby islands.
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What's
the difference between a kangaroo and a wallaby? Generally speaking,
kangaroos are larger. However, there are exceptions to this naming
system. For instance, the musky rat "kangaroo" measures only 14
inches and weighs only one pound.
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| Scientific Name
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Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus
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| Classification
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Phylum Chordata, Class Mammalia, Order Marupialia, Family Macropodidae
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| Status
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The Bennett's Wallaby is currently listed as stable. However, other
species of kangaroos, wallabys, and wallaroo are listed as endangered.
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| Range
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Tasmania, the islands in the Bass Strait,
and coastal areas along the southeastern coast of Australia
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| Habitat
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Woodlands
and some grasslands
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| Diet
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Grasses, leaves, and
brush
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| Size
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Length: 16 to 40 inches long, with another 30
to 40 inches on the tail.
Weight:
30-50 pounds
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| Lifespan
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15 yrs.
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| Location
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Print Fact Sheet
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Wallaby
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Special Features
- Female
marsupials have a pouch, or marsupium, in which they young are
carried.
- Like
all marsupials, wallabies have two special bones called marsupial
bones that are attached the their hip bones. In female wallabies,
the bones serve as an attachment site for abdominal muscles which
help strengthen the abdominal wall. Although male wallabies don't
have pouches, they also have marsupial bones.
- Wallabies
are known as "foregut fermenters." Their stomach contains microbes
(bacteria, etc.) that breaks down food into absorbable components.
Social Structure & Behavior
- Bennett's
wallabies may be seen feeding together, but usually do not form
permanent social groups.
- The
Bennett's wallaby is one of the most nocturnal of the kangaroo
and wallaby species.
Breeding & care of young:
Females
reach sexual maturity at approximately 1 to 1.5 years of age; males
at 1.5 to 2 years. The estrous cycle average length is 32 days,
with gestation lasting 30 days.
Many
wallabies and kangaroos have a unique form of reproduction. Embryos
are able to undergo "embryonic dipause". An embryo can
live in the uterus at an arrested stage of development, while an
offspring from an earlier mating is carried in the pouch and suckled.
Once the young in the pouch reaches a certain age, the embryo will
resume development. A third offspring may be "at foot".
A joey that is "at foot" has just permanently left the
pouch and will follow its mother outside the pouch.
At
birth, a newborn Bennett's wallaby is smaller than a bumblebee!
Newborns weigh less than 1 gram. Immediately after it is born, the
tiny, blind, hairless newborn must crawl from the birth canal to
the safety of the pouch. It crawls through its mother's thick fur,
into her pouch, and attaches to a teat.Young wallabies may remain
in the pouch for up to 9 months. At 6 months of age they begin to
venture out of the pouch. Over a period of 2-3 months they become
more independent, gradually spending more time away from their mother.
They are usually weaned around 1 year of age.
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