The lowlands tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus spadix''), also spelt "lowland," is a long-tailed, furry, bear-like mammal found only in lowland tropical rainforests on the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

(in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

). It is a species of tree-kangaroo (genus '' Dendrolagus''), which are tree-dwelling animals that feed on leaves or other plant matter. Tree-kangaroos are in the macropod family (

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

) with kangaroos, and like other marsupials they carry their young in a pouch. The lowlands tree-kangaroo is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the Southern New Guinea lowland rainforests ecoregion in the southwestern part of

, within the nation of

References

Macropods Marsupials of New Guinea Endemic fauna of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Papua New Guinea Vulnerable fauna of Oceania Mammals described in 1936 Taxa named by Ellis Le Geyt Troughton Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Diprotodont-stub

See also

References