Matschie's tree-kangaroo
- It is one of the best vertical climbers among tree-kangaroos and can drop 18–30 m without injury.
- The female gives birth to a single tiny young after a gestation of about 44 days; it spends many months in the pouch.
- Diet is leaves, buds, fruits and occasional insects; digestion can take days.
- Captive lifespan reaches about 20 years.
- Status is Endangered because of hunting and forest loss.
- Fur is thick reddish-mahogany dorsally with cream face and yellow limbs; a dorsal hair whorl is present.
Age
Matschie's tree kangaroo typically lives for 10 to 20 years, with a maximum recorded lifespan of 26 years and 11 months, and a theoretical lifespan ranging from 13 years and 6 months to 26 years and 11 months. The species reaches sexual maturity between 1 year and 11 months and 3 years and 7 months of age; the young’s eyes open between 4 months and 5 months and 1 week. An embryo develops in the mother's womb for a short time before being born very small and immediately moving to her pouch. The young lives in the mother's pouch, feeding on milk and gradually growing, and remains completely dependent on her for 8 to 11 months. Following this period, the animal enters the adult stage, which lasts from 2 to 20 years, during which it lives in trees, moves actively, and feeds.
Phenotype
The Matschie's tree kangaroo has dense fur that is reddish-brown in color with a golden hue on the shoulders and back, which helps to retain heat and provides camouflage among leaves. The species possesses strong front paws with large sharp claws used for grasping branches and climbing trees, as well as powerful hind legs shorter than those of terrestrial kangaroos, adapted for jumping between branches. It also has a long tail that serves to balance during jumps between trees and aids in holding onto branches. The adult Matschie's tree kangaroo has four limbs, including the tail.
Physiology
The Matschie's tree kangaroo has a body length ranging from 50 to 80 centimeters, with a mass between 7 and 11.4 kilograms; adult individuals have a body mass ranging from 7 to 12 kilograms and a body length from 50 to 80 centimeters. The huon tree kangaroo embryos weigh from 0.5 to 1 gram and measure from 5 millimeters to 2 centimeters in length, while the young weigh from 50 grams to 2.5 kilograms and measure from 5 to 25 centimeters in length. Matschie's tree kangaroos exhibit a range of sizes during their development, with the initial embryonic stage characterized by a body mass of 0.5 to 1 gram and a length of 5 millimeters to 2 centimeters. The juvenile stage sees the young weighing from 50 grams to 2.5 kilograms and measuring from 5 to 25 centimeters in length.
Habitat
Matschie's tree kangaroo inhabits elevations from 1 kilometer to 3.5 kilometers above sea level and occupies diverse biomes, including temperate mixed forests with warm summers and many oaks, birches, and maples; temperate coniferous forests that are cool with abundant coniferous trees and snow in winter; and tropical moist forests that are consistently hot and humid with large trees and vines. The species is found in terrestrial landscapes such as highlands and tundra, deserts and semi-deserts, and ground forests. The climate is always hot and wet, with very hot summers exceeding 25 to 30 degrees Celsius, and it is consistently very wet with rain almost every day; the summers are warm and often rainy, and the winters are not very cold.
Shelter
Matschie's tree kangaroo lives in the crowns of tall trees and does not have a permanent or long-term shelter; the species uses its habitat for protection from predators and for resting, and it lacks a fixed den.
Geography
Matschie's tree kangaroo is found in the biogeographical realms of Australasia and the Nearctic.
Feeding
Matschie's tree kangaroo feeds only on plants, consuming leaves, young shoots, fruits, and flowers directly from trees; the species obtains food by plucking vegetation with its forepaws and eating it with its teeth. The diet includes leaves, young shoots, fruits, flowers, young shoots, and sprouts, and also fruits. The feeding strategy involves foraging and grazing, with a daily food requirement ranging from 400 grams to 0.9 kilograms. Young huon tree kangaroos are fed milk; the species also preys on beetles, butterflies, diptera, hymenoptera, bedbugs, orthoptera, dragonflies, stoneflies, and net-winged insects.
Reproduction
Matschie's tree kangaroo is a terrestrial species that develops on land, away from bodies of water, and the young develop in the parent’s pouch or mouth on land; the female carries the offspring in her pouch or mouth on land. The gestation period lasts one month, and the female gives birth to a single tiny offspring that immediately crawls into the pouch, where it grows for several months, feeding on milk. Reproduction can occur at any time of year, and the interval between reproductions is from 1 to 2 years. A litter has one young, and the offspring reaches maturity from 2 years to 3 years and 7 months. The species reproduces sexually with homogamy, always involving fertilization and without generational change, and eggs or young develop in a nest built on the ground or close to it, sometimes high in the branches of a bush or tree.