Seri's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus stellarum'') is a species of tree-kangaroo native and
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 else ...
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
. Seri's tree-kangaroo was originally considered to be a
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
Its elevational distribution is rather different from that of the other related species, in that it descends no lower than about 2600 metres. The forest becomes less
moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...
y and more diverse, below this elevation. It is not clear why it is restricted to such high elevations, unlike the closely related Ifola (''Dendrolagus notatus'') which descends to much lower elevations.
Description
"Seri's tree-kangaroo is one of the most attractive members of the Doria's complex. Very young animals have a bright yellow tail and a very dark body, but as they age the tail darkens and the distinctive silvery tipping develops on the limbs. The heavily silver-frosted coat colour of adults blends extraordinarily well with the epiphytic mosses and
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.