Dendrolagus mbaiso, Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995

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 : 704

20.

Dingiso

Dendrolagus mbaiso

French: Dendrolague dingiso / German: SchwarzweilRes Baumkanguru / Spanish: Canguro arboricola de Sudirman

Taxonomy. Dendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995 ,

Mount Ki , Tembagapura area , West Papua, Indonesia.

Monotypic.

Distribution. Tembagapura and Kwiyawagi areas, Snow (= Surdiman) Mts, CW West Papua, New Guinea.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 66-67 cm, tail 41.5-52 cm; weight 5.4-8.6 kg. Medium-sized, compact, short tailed, blackand-white tree kangaroo with long, dense fur. Predominantly black dorsally, including limbs; sides of body and face variably tinged with brown. Single hair whorl on dorsal midline below shoulders. Wide white ventral stripe from chin to cloaca; inside of limbs can also be white. White stripe on each side of muzzle and white spot in center of forehead. Ears short, rounded, and well furred. Tail short, predominantly black, but with yellowish to white region proximally of highly variable extent. Slight pale tail tip usually present.

Habitat. Upper-montane moss forest and subalpine scrub between 2700 m and 3500 m.

Food and Feeding. Poorly known. Reported to feed on leaves of understory plants, including ferns.

Breeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but it may breed seasonally.

Activity patterns. May be diurnal or crepuscular.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Poorly known. Reported to be largely terrestrial, solitary and territorial.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Endangered on The IUCN Red List. This is a rare and poorly known species that was not discovered and formally described until the 1990s. It has a restricted distribution, and has declined significantly over the last few decades as a result of hunting by indigenous people and loss of habitat to agriculture. The Dingiso is relatively tame, but in western part of its range is protected from hunting by traditional beliefs. It is also threatened by climate change, which facilitates changes to agricultural practices in its subalpine habitat. It does not occur in any protected area and none is held in captivity. Additional research on distribution, abundance, general ecology, and impact of threats is required.

Bibliography. Flannery (1995a), Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay (1995), Flannery, Martin & Szalay (1996), Leary, Seri, Wright, Hamilton, Helgen, Singadan, Menzies, Allison, James, Dickman, Aplin, Flannery et al. (2008b).

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. Tembagapura and Kwiyawagi areas, Snow (= Surdiman) Mts, CW West Papua, New Guinea.