The black wallaroo (''Osphranter bernardus''), also known as Woodward's wallaroo,
is a species of
macropod restricted to a small, mountainous area in
Arnhem Land,
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
,
Australia, between
South Alligator River and
Nabarlek
Nabarleks (''Petrogale concinna''), are a tiny species of macropod found in northern Australia. They are a shy and nocturnal animal that resides in rocky hollows and forages in the surrounding area. Their diet is grasses, sedges, and ferns foun ...
. It classified as
near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...
, mostly due to its limited distribution.
A large proportion of the range is protected by
Kakadu National Park
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded liv ...
.
Taxonomy
The description of the species was published by
Walter Rothschild
Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presen ...
in 1904. The author initially assigned the species to a new genus as ''Dendrodorcopsis woodwardi'', but revision of new material forwarded to England by the collector
John Tunney persuaded the mammalogist
Oldfield Thomas that the characteristics of the taxon were assignable to ''
Macropus
''Macropus'' is a marsupial genus in the family Macropodidae. It has two extant species of large terrestrial kangaroos. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek μάκρος, ''makros'' "long" and πους, ''pous'' "foot". Thirteen known ext ...
''.
The specific epithet ''woodwardi'' was preoccupied by another subspecies of the genus (''
Macropus robustus woodwardi''), prompting Rothschild to assign the new epithet ''bernardus''.
In 2019, a reassessment of macropod taxonomy determined that the species should be moved from the genus ''
Macropus
''Macropus'' is a marsupial genus in the family Macropodidae. It has two extant species of large terrestrial kangaroos. The term is derived from the Ancient Greek μάκρος, ''makros'' "long" and πους, ''pous'' "foot". Thirteen known ext ...
'' to the genus ''
Osphranter
''Osphranter'' is a genus of large marsupials in the family Macropodidae, commonly known as kangaroos and wallaroos (among other species). It contains the largest extant marsupial, the red kangaroo (''O. rufus'').
In 2019, a reassessment of mac ...
''.
This change was accepted by the
Australian Faunal Directory
The Australian Faunal Directory (AFD) is an online catalogue of taxonomic and biological information on all animal species known to occur within Australia. It is a program of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
...
in 2020.
Other common names of ''O. bernardus'' also include black kangaroo, northern black wallaroo, Bernard's kangaroo, and Bernard's wallaroo.
Description
The black wallaroo is a smaller member of the kangaroos and wallabies, and the smallest of the
wallaroo
Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'', and not a portmanteau of the words "kangaroo" and "wal ...
s. The males' fur colour is predominately very dark brown to black, whereas females are lighter and greyish-brown.
The species is identifiable by a body form that is rotund and muscular and ears that are oval in shape and relatively short.
The measurements of the head and body combined is up to 730 millimetres, exceeding the tail length of 640 mm or less. The approximate standing height, from the ground to the crown of the head, is 800 mm. The weight range for males is from 19 to 22 kilograms, females are usually around 13 kg.
''Osphranter bernardus'' is by far the smallest of the wallaroos, as well as the most easily distinguished. The species exhibits strong
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
, the male is uniformly black or dark brown and has yellowish coloration at the forearm, the female is a mid-grey colour and has dark brown to black at the ends of the limbs and tail. The dentition is a diagnostic of ''O. bernardus'', exhibiting a uniquely grooved notch at the second incisor.
Behaviour
The species is extremely shy and will attempt to flee an observer by seeking its refuge at a nearby hill or sandstone
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...
, and if pursued demonstrates great agility in leaping to
ledges or descending to the ground. They also seek respite from the sun beneath escarpments or in the shade of large trees, only venturing away from these to forage for grasses and herbs or access water at a nearby location.
Little research has been undertaken on the behaviour of ''O. bernardus'', but it is known to be a shy
nocturnal grazer Grazer may refer to:
*grazer, an animal that grazes
*Grazer, a native or inhabitant of Graz
*GRAZER, the shoegaze band GRAZER
Astronomy
* Earth Grazer, Earth-grazing fireball that enters the Earth's atmosphere and leaves again
* Mercury grazer, ...
which does not gather in groups. They find refuge from predators and extremes of weather at the rocky escarpments or caves of its habitat and will rapidly seek these whenever they are disturbed. The species remains undercover until emerging at night to forage in the local area.
''Osphranter bernardus'' is not a gregarious species; they are usually seen alone, or as a male and female pair with perhaps one larger young. Individuals may be seen in the company of others of the genus, the tall and slender
antilopine kangaroo
The antilopine kangaroo (''Osphranter antilopinus''), also known as the antilopine wallaroo or the antilopine wallaby, is a species of macropod found in northern Australia: in Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, the Top End of the Northern Terri ...
(''Osphranter antilopinus'') and the
common wallaroo
The common wallaroo (''Osphranter robustus''), also known as the euro, hill wallaroo, or simply wallaroo, is a species of macropod. The word ''euro'' is particularly applied to one subspecies (''O. r. erubescens'').WE Poole and JC Merchant (198 ...
(''Osphranter robustus''), especially when gathering to drink at waterholes.
Distribution and habitat
The distribution range is restricted to area of eastern
Arnhemland
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...
, from the South Aliigator River to Narbalek, and occur within this range at
Mt Brockman and
Nourlangie Rock
Burrunggui (sometimes spelled Burrunguy, previously called Nourlangie Rock) is located in an outlying sandstone formation of the Arnhem Land Escarpment within the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the traditional ...
.
The favoured habitat has a monsoonal climate, and is most commonly found in these types of woodlands, rainforest over sandstone and on sandy plains dominated by a variety of grasses.
The soil of the habitat is very shallow and interspersed with bare rock surfaces, typically sandstone.
In Aboriginal language and culture
In the
Kunwinjku
The Kunwinjku (formerly written Gunwinggu) people are an Australian Aboriginal people, one of several groups within the Bininj people, who live around West Arnhem Land to the east of Darwin, Northern Territory. Kunwinjku people generally refer t ...
language of West
Arnhem Land, the male black wallaroo is known as ' (or ' in the
Kuninjku dialect
Kuninjku is a dialect of Bininj Kunwok, an Australian Aboriginal language. The Aboriginal people who speak Kuninjku are the Bininj people, who live primarily in western Arnhem Land. Kuninjku is spoken primarily in the east of the Bininj Kunwo ...
),
while the female is called '.
It is common in the Kunwinjku language for male and female macropods to have different names. Black wallaroos are said to be the 'pets' of ''Nakidjkidj'' spirits.
Kunwinjku sometimes keep them as pets. According to Reverend Peterson Nganjmirra they are 'quiet'.
References
External links
Department of Environment and Heritage Species Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q209585
Macropods
Mammals of the Northern Territory
Marsupials of Australia
Mammals described in 1904
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN