#macropodidae

[mammalianmammals]

Yellow-footed Rock Wallabies (Petrogale xanthopus), family Macropodidae, order Diprotodontia, Australia

photographs by Tess Tickles

[snototter]

A yellow-footed rock wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus) grooms itself at Brachina Gorge, Australia

by Julian Robinson

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

just saw the wikipedia page for a dusky pademelon and i am entranced. they are so polite looking

They really are! They don't have an inaturalist page so I'll use the wikimedia commons photos.

Have you seen the dusky pademelon (Thylogale brunii)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onMay 5

Photos by Cep Budhi Darma.

[alphynix]

Protemnodon viator was a large macropod that lived in what is now western and southern Australia during the late Pleistocene, around 50,000 years ago.

Although it was built more like a giant wallaby, ancient mitochondrial DNA has shown that its closest living relatives are actually modern grey kangaroos.

Estimated to have weighed about 170kg (~375lbs) – twice as much as the largest modern red kangaroos – it would have stood up to 2.4m tall (~8') on its hind legs. But unlike its living relatives Protemnodon's limb proportions indicate it wasn't a very efficient bipedal hopper, instead probably mostly moving with a bounding or galloping quadrupedal gait.

Its forelimb anatomy also suggests it was a good digger, and strongly curved claws on its hind feet may have helped provide grip on uneven ground.

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References:

Llamas, Bastien, et al. "Late Pleistocene Australian marsupial DNA clarifies the affinities of extinct megafaunal kangaroos and wallabies." Molecular Biology and Evolution 32.3 (2015): 574-584. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu338

Jones, Billie, and Christine M. Janis. "Hop, walk or bound? Limb proportions in kangaroos and the probable locomotion of the extinct genus Protemnodon." Journal of Mammalian Evolution 31.2 (2024): 26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-024-09725-4

Kerr, Isaac A. R., et al. "Systematics and palaeobiology of kangaroos of the late Cenozoic genus Protemnodon (Marsupialia, Macropodidae)." Megataxa 11.1 (2024): 1-261. https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.11.1.1

Wikipedia contributors. “Protemnodon” Wikipedia, 25 May 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protemnodon

[all-mammal-creechur]

Tenkile Dendrolagus scottae

Also known as Scott's tree-kangaroo, it is endemic to a very small area of the Torricelli Mountains of Papua New Guinea. The tenkile is listed as endangered due to hunting and logging activities in Papua New Guinea. It was thought that the tenkile population could have been as low as 100 individuals in 2001.

img source

[saritawolf]

Matschie's Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[morgansram]

Tree kangaroo and baby X

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

It should be pretty easy to figure out where tree kangaroos spend most of their time! Although they are true kangaroos, just like its bigger and more famous cousins, members of the genus Dendrolagus have evolved for an arboral life, which include a larger tail for balance and longer hind feet to better climb trees with. Because of these adaptations, tree kangaroos are capable of leaping over 60 ft (18 m) from the tree tops to the ground!

(Image: A Bennett's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus) by Bill Hatcher)