Dendrolagus lumholtzi, Collett, 1884

Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Macropodidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 630-735 : 703

17.

Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo

Dendrolagus lumholtzi

French: Dendrolague de Lumholtz / German: Lumholtz-Baumkanguru / Spanish: Canguro arboricola de Lumholtz

Other common names: Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo

Taxonomy. Dendrolagus lumholtzi Collett, 1884 ,

Herbert Vale , Queensland, Australia.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. NE Queensland from Mt Carbine Tableland S to Kirrima.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 52-71 cm (males) and 42-67.5 cm (females) and tail 65-5—84-5 cm (males) and 52-74 cm (females); weight 5.4-9.9 kg (males) and 4.7-7.8 kg (females). Small, long-footed, long-tailed tree kangaroo with strongly contrasting markings. Dark gray-brown dorsally, paler on lower back, pale yellowish brown ventrally and on flanks and limbs, but feet and paws blackish brown. Paired hair whorls on each side of dorsal midline just below shoulders. Face black to above eyes, contrasting with yellowish-gray band across forehead and down cheek to throat. Ears short and rounded, black on back. Tail long and dark brown with slight terminal brush, darker ventrally, paler on proximal dorsal surface, and often rufous at base. Diploid chromosome numberis 14.

Habitat. Lowland and montane tropical rainforest, from sea level to 1600 m elevation. Now most common in upland forest above 800 m.

Food and Feeding. Folivorous; vast majority (90%) of diet consists of mature leaves of more than 30 species of forest tree and vine, as well as a few shrubs and epiphytes. A small amount of young leaves and flowers also consumed. Food items are mostly reached and grasped with paws and then transferred to mouth. Several of the plant species eaten are known to be toxic to other animals. Captive individuals observed regularly to catch and eat reptiles and birds and to ingest soil.

Breeding. Females reach sexual maturity from 24 months and a male matured at 55 months. Estrous cycle is 47-64 (mean 56) days and gestation 42-48 (mean 45) days. Post-partum estrus and embryonic diapause have not been observed. Females appear to breed throughout year and produce a single young. Young spend 8-9 months in the pouch and are weaned 3-8 months after permanent pouch emergence, but then remain with mother until 15-19 months old. In captivity, females typically came into estrus several months after permanent pouch emergence of previous young. In captivity, mating occurred over a 1-3day period and took place mostly on ground; copulation lasted for 10-35 minutes and occurred up to three times a day. Significant sexual size dimorphism suggests intense competition among males for access to females.

Activity patterns. Displays a low level of activity overall, punctuated by bouts of movement and foraging throughout the diel period. Spends the day high in canopy, descending lower in canopy and moving between trees mainly during night. During daylight hours, usually extremely well concealed in vine tangles, clumps of ferns, or dense canopy foliage. May bask in morning sun in winter. Mostly arboreal; comes to ground only when threatened or to move between distant feed trees and habitat patches.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Primarily solitary, except for mothers and young. Territories of both sexes appear exclusive, with males especially aggressive toward each other. Territories (100% minimum convex polygon) in disturbed forest are small (males 1-4-2 ha, females 0-2-2-1 ha), but may be larger in mature forest. Territories of males overlap with those of two or three females. An atypical female ranged over 16 ha, including cleared pasture, and a dispersing subadult male ranged over 339 ha. Individuals typically show extremely high fidelity to their territory, and remain within it even if native vegetation is removed.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo is currently relatively common in its remaining habitat, but has inherently low genetic diversity. Historically, it has suffered major population decline as a result of widespread clearing of both lowland and upland rainforest for agriculture. It is now rarely reported below 300 m elevation, and little lowland forest remains. Much of its surviving habitat is now in protected areas, but habitat loss and fragmentation remain a threat in some parts. Although it persists in heavily fragmented agricultural landscape of Atherton Tablelands, populations there are threatened by further habitat loss and degradation, predation by domestic/feral dogs and Dingoes (Canis lupus dingo), and roadkill. Strategic construction of vegetation corridors linking forest fragments is likely to improveits status on Tablelands in the future. Small population held in captivity in Queensland, Australia. Additional research on abundance, general ecology, and impact of threats is required.

Bibliography. Bowyer et al. (2002), Coombes (2005), Flannery et al. (1996), Hayman (1989), Iwaniuk et al. (1998), Johnson (2003), Johnson & Delean (2003), Johnson & Newell (2008), Kanowski et al. (2003), Martin, R.W. (2005), Newell (1999a, 1999b, 1999c), Procter-Gray (1984, 1985), Procter-Gray & Ganslofer (1986), Winter, Burnett & Martin (2008b), Woinarskiet al. (2014s).

Figures

10. Rufous-bellied Pademelon (Thylogale billardieru), 11. Red-necked Pademelon (Thylogale thetis), 12. Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica), 13. New Guinea Pademelon (Thylogale browni), 14. Dusky Pademelon (Thylogale brunii), 15. Calaby’s Pademelon (Thylogale calabyi), 16. Bennett's Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus bennettianus), 17. Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), 18. Grizzled Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus inustus), 19. Vogelkop Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus ursinus), 20. Dingiso (Dendrolagus mbaiso), 21. Doria’s. 9 Tree Kangaroo Dendrolagus (- dorianus), 22. Scott’s Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus scottae), 23. Goodfellow’s Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus goodfellowi), 24. Huon Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschie), 25. Lowland Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus spadix)

Distribution. NE Queensland from Mt Carbine Tableland S to Kirrima.