The parma wallaby (Notamacropus parma ) is the smallest member of the marsupial genus Notamacropus. It inhabits wet sclerophyll (hard-leaved) forests of northern New South Wales, Australia. Adult parma wallabies typically weigh 4–5 kg, with the body length of about 0.5 m (1.6 ft).
The parma wallaby was first described by British naturalist John Gould in the 1840s. Shy, nocturnal, and rarely encountered by people, it was believed to be extinct, but was rediscovered in the 1960s on several locations. The species remains rarely seen, with some evidence for a recent population decline.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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JumpingJumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
Altricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withA Parma wallaby is the smallest of the macropus family, which includes all wallabies and kangaroos. When resting, they are somewhat round in appearance. They have brown fur with lighter markings on chest, face, neck, and sometimes on the end of their long tail. Males are larger and stronger than females.
The Parma wallaby is a native of the Great Dividing Range, which is between the Watagan Mountains and the Gibraltar Range in Eastern Australia. It lives only in New South Wales, occupying wet, sclerophyll forests that have grassy openings and thick undergrowth. The Parma wallaby is found sometimes in dry, eucalypt forests but also in wet, tropical habitats.
Parma wallabies are solitary, cryptic creatures. They are nocturnal, although sometimes they are active at dawn or dusk, spending the day sheltering under cover. Soon after waking at dusk, they start feeding, usually gathering in groups of two or three individuals to forage. Their diet consists of grasses and herbs. Most social interactions occur at sunrise, when their activity peaks. These animals are bipeds and they move with a hopping type of gait, with their tail acting as a counterbalance. When resting they will often sit “tripod style,” being balanced on their hind legs and tail. They communicate visually, with tail wagging, quivering, and foot stomping to signal aggression. They will also communicate with their mates by clucking, or coughing, with hissing as another sign of aggression.
A Parma wallaby is a herbivore and feeds mainly on herbaceous plant parts and reedy grasses.
These wallabies are polygynandrous (promiscuous), two or more males mating with two or more female wallabies. They breed between the months of March and July, and produce one offspring each breeding season. Gestation is for about 35 days. The newborn remains in its mother’s pouch. After 30 weeks it is ready to leave the pouch, but continues to nurse until 10 months, when the joey becomes completely independent of its mother. Since the parma wallaby is a solitary creature, the only interactions between adult males and females are when they mate. Males take no part in caring for young. A female reaches sexual maturity at about 16 months, and males between 20-24 months.
The main threat to Parma wallabies is predation by a number of introduced natural predators, including feral cats, foxes, and dingoes. Another main threat is habitat destruction, as bushfires and grazing by livestock can also reduce the amount of suitable vegetation where wallabies can shelter.
According to the IUCN Red List, the total number of the Parma wallabies’ population is between 1,000 and 10,000 individuals. Currently they are classified as near threatened (NT) on the List of threatened species.
The Parma wallaby is a grazer of small vegetation and so is a predator of small shrubs and other plants in its environment.
