The allied rock-wallaby or Weasel rock-wallaby (''Petrogale assimilis'') is a species of rock-wallaby found in northeastern Queensland,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It forms part of the ''P. lateralis/penicillata'' species complex and is very similar to six other species of rock-wallaby found in this area; these include the

Cape York rock-wallaby The Cape York rock-wallaby (''Petrogale coenensis'') is a species of rock-wallaby restricted to Cape York Peninsula in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is a member of a group of seven very closely related rock-wallabies, all found in northe ...

(''P. coenensis''), the unadorned rock-wallaby (''P. inornata''), the

Herbert's rock-wallaby Herbert's rock-wallaby (''Petrogale herberti'') is a member of a group of seven very closely related rock-wallabies found in northeastern Queensland, Australia. Herbert's is the most southerly and most widespread of the group. Herbert's rock-wa ...

(''P. herberti''), the Godman's rock-wallaby (''P. godmani''), the Mareeba rock-wallaby (''P. mareeba'') and the Mount Claro rock-wallaby (''P. sharmani'').

Description

Few features distinguish the allied rock-wallaby from its close relatives but each species lives in a different part of Queensland and northern New South Wales; where their ranges overlap slightly, there is some hybridisation. They all have upper parts that range from brown to grey, and paler underparts. They usually have a dark muzzle and a dark patch around the armpits. On the face is a pale cheek stripe, and across the hips is another pale stripe.

Distribution and habitat

The allied rock-wallaby is endemic to Queensland in Australia. Its range extends from Townsville to the Burdekin River, the Bowen River, Croydon and

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: * Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia *Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada * Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England * Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, E ...

, and includes

Magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particle ...

and Palm Islands. It occurs at elevations of up to in rocky areas, both in woodland and in more lightly-treed areas, even when agricultural land is nearby. Typical habitat is mountainous areas with cliffs, ledges, caves and rock piles.

Behaviour

The diet comprises grasses and shoots of herbaceous plants, with up to thirty percent of the diet being browsed from bushes. They have a small home range during the wet season when food is readily available, but range much more widely during the dry season. While foraging, out-of-pouch young are often left hidden in rock crevices. The allied rock-wallaby is behaviourally

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

, but not all the offspring are sired by the supposed father. The

gestation period In mammals, pregnancy is the period of reproduction during which a female carries one or more live offspring from implantation in the uterus through gestation. It begins when a fertilized zygote implants in the female's uterus, and ends once it ...

is about thirty days, the joey leaves the pouch at six to seven months and is fully weaned when nearly a year old. Young adults may disperse over distances of two kilometres or so, and longevity is about seven years.

Status

''P. assimilis'' has a wide distribution in Queensland and is common within that range. The population trend seems to be stable and no particular threats to this species are known. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of " least concern". Some factors that affect rock wallabies are climate change, which may alter the flora of their habitat,

introduced predators An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its indigenous (ecology), native distributional range (biolog ...

such as dogs and foxes, degradation, loss and

fragmentation of habitat Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...

, competition from introduced grazing animals and changing practices for periodic burning.

References

External links