The black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby (''Dorcopsis atrata'') is a species of

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

in the family

Macropodidae Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and ar ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to an island at the eastern end of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and hunting, its population is declining and the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

lists it as being " Critically endangered".

Description

The black dorcopsis has black upper parts and dark brown underparts. It has a long muzzle, a naked snout, small rounded ears and a tail which lacks hair on its hind half. Its fore limbs are robust but its hind limbs and feet are relatively small. Adults reach a length of between with a tail of and weigh around .

Biology

The black dorcopsis is believed to be mainly nocturnal but may move around during the day in dense forest. It feeds on shoots, leaves, grasses, fruit and roots which it gathers with its mouth and manipulates with its fore paws. A young black dorcopsis develops in its mother's pouch. There are four nipples in the pouch despite the fact that there is normally only a single juvenile developing there at any one time.

Status

The black dorcopsis is known from a single location,

Goodenough Island Goodenough Island in the Solomon Sea, also known as Nidula Island, is the westernmost of the three large islands of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. It lies to the east of mainland New Guinea and southwest ...

at the eastern end of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

where it has a total extent of occurrence of less than . It spends most of the year in oak forests at altitudes of between where there is little undergrowth but the ground is carpeted with mosses, lichens and ferns. It descends seasonally to gullies and lower ground at which time it is vulnerable to being hunted. The montane forest is being degraded using

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed vegeta ...

techniques and is eventually being converted into grassland. Although the black dorcopsis is common in suitable habitat, the overall population is declining and the

lists its conservation status as being " Critically endangered".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113654 Macropods Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals described in 1957 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Marsupials of New Guinea