Buergers'/Goodfellow's (Dendrolagus goodfellowi) and Matschie's (Dendrolagus matschiei) Tree Kangaroos Fact Sheet: Physical Characteristics

Body measurements

Data sources: Flannery et al. (1996), Travis et al. (2012)

(Flannery 1993; Flannery 1995; Flannery et al. 1996; Moeller 1990)

Shape (Flannery et al. 1996; Moeller 1990)

• Tree kangaroos differ in several ways from other kangaroos and wallabies, due to adaptations to life in trees
  • Head - more bearlike than ground-dwelling kangaroos
    • Broad face, short snout
    • Short round ears
    • Small eyes
  • Limbs - shorter hindlegs, sturdier forelegs than ground-dwelling kangaroos
  • Feet - some similarities, some differences with ground-dwelling kangaroos
    • In common - lack opposable first toe, have greatly enlarged middle (4th) toe with a long claw
    • Differences - feet shorter and broader than in ground-dwelling kangaroos
  • Tail -not as muscular or strongly tapered as in ground-dwelling kangaroos
    • Used primarily for balance in trees, not as a "third leg" while hopping as in many ground-dwelling kangaroos
• Buergers' tree kangaroo - more slender than other species
• Matschie's tree kangaroo - stocky body

Skin and pelage (Flannery et al. 1996; Hutchins et al. 1991)

• Buergers' tree kangaroo
  • Fur - short, usually woolly
  • Body, shoulders, ears - chestnut brown
  • Belly - light-colored
  • Throat - yellow
  • Face - plain brown with slightly paler muzzle
  • Eyes - blue
  • Forelimbs - yellow forearms sharply defined from brown upper arms
  • Dorsal stripes - distinctive double longitudinal yellow stripes run down back from shoulders to rump (may run from back of head entire length of back)
  • Tail - distinctive yellow or white and brown bands and blotches
    • Pattern unique to each individual
  • Hands and feet - flesh-colored skin
  • Differs from D. g. goodfellowi by presence of distinct dorsal stripes and absence of buff speckling on body
• Matschie's tree kangaroo
  • Fur - relatively long, woolly
  • Body and upper forearms - chestnut to wood-brown
  • Face - distinctive brown and white or yellow pattern, often asymmetrical
    • Pattern unique to each individual
  • Nose - pale pink
  • Ears - yellow, brown, or a combination
  • Forearms and belly - light-colored (pale brown to yellowish-white)
  • Tail - solid-colored, pale brown to dull yellowish brown to bright yellow
  • Hands and feet - flesh-colored skin
  • Differs from D. g. buergersi by absence of dorsal stripes, shorter tail, no markings on tail

(Flannery et al. 1996)

• Not pronounced in Buergers' and Matschie's tree kangaroos
• Little/no significant difference in weight between the sexes
• Males have:
  • Sagittal crest (ridge of bone at top of head)
  • Stronger masseter (biting) jaw muscles, anchored on the sagittal crest

(Flannery et al. 1996; Iwaniuk 1998; Martin 2005; Moeller 1990; Warburton et al. 2011)

Shoulders and forelimbs

• Tree kangaroos are strong, mobile, and dextrous (Iwaniuk 1998; Warburton et al. 2011)
• Forelimbs much more highly developed in tree kangaroos than in ground-dwelling kangaroos and wallabies
  • No pronounced size difference between forelimbs and hindlimbs
• Increased strength
  • Due to changes in size and attachment of forelimb muscles
  • Improved abilities to bend, grasp, grip, pull
• Improved mobility and dexterity in reaching
  • Due to modified shapes of shoulder and forelimb bones
  • Similar freedom of movement only seen in 1 other non-primate, the raccoon (Procyon lotor)

Hindlimbs - less muscle mass than ground-dwellers (Martin 2005)

• Tree kangaroos have typical enlarged kangaroo hindlimbs with robust femurs (upper leg bones)
  • Muscles not as highly developed as ground-dwelling relatives

Remarkable manual dexterity (Iwaniuk 1998; Moeller 1990; Warburton et al. 2011)

• Can make complex movements with forepaws:
• Bend forepaws sharply at wrist
• Oppose 1st and 2nd fingers to others
• Easily grasp stems between 2 fingers
• Able to independently move digits (fingers, toes)
• Only seen in 2 other non-primates, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus)

Feet and ankles - increased mobility (Martin 2005)

• Forefeet and hind feet of tree kangaroos have greater ranger of mobility than ground-dwelling kangaroos
• Modified ankle bones allow rotation of hind feet to turn soles of feet inwards
• Tree kangaroos are only existing kangaroos with this ability

Paws - designed to grip (Martin 2005)

• Hind feet much shorter and broader than in ground-dwelling kangaroos
• Large, high-friction pads on forefeet and hindfeet
  • Covered with prominent tubercles (small, nobby projections)
  • Similar to the rubber face of a ping-pong paddle
• Extreme claws on every digit
  • Longer and more curved than ground-dwelling kangaroos
• Buergers' and Matschie's tree kangaroos belong to "short-footed" group of tree kangaroos
  • Shortest, broadest, softest hindfoot pads, and most curved claws

Tails - designed to balance (Martin 2005)

• Used as a balancing aid when moving around in trees
• Less muscular than in ground-dwelling kangaroos - never used as "5th leg" while hopping

Ears - modified shape (Martin 2005)

• Small and rounded - very different from ground-dwelling kangaroos' large ears
• Tree-dwellers may have less need of acute hearing than ground-dwellers
• Smaller ears may be advantage moving through thick tree foliage
  

• Teeth (Flannery et al. 1996; Martin 2005)
  • Form and function show adaptations for browsing diet
  • Incisors (cutting teeth) - used to grip and pluck or cut twigs/leaves from plants
    • 3 upper, 1 lower on each side
    • Lower incisor - largest tooth in tree kangaroo's mouth, modified to form long cutting blade
  • Canine teeth - 1 tiny remnant on each side, no apparent function
  • Large diastema (gap)
  • Premolars (slicing teeth) - slice pieces off ingested plant matter
    • 1 pair permanent premolars on each side
      • Unique feature in kangaroos - upper permanent premolar replaces 2 deciduous premolars in same position
    • Tree kangaroo premolars more complex than in ground-dwelling kangaroos
      • More cusps and cutting edges
  • Molars (grinding teeth) - finely cut up and grind pieces of plant matter
    • Relatively low-crowned compared with ground-dwelling kangaroos
• Digestive system (Bush & Montali 1991; Martin 2005)
  • Similar to other kangaroos
  • Large, multi-chambered stomach
    • Sacculated forestomach - folds expand for food storage
    • Tubiform forestomach - bacterial fermentation occurs here to break down hard-to-digest plant material
    • Hind stomach - absorption occurs here
• Urogenital system (Flannery et al. 1996)
  • Female reproductive organs - similar to other kangaroos
    • 2 ovaries, 2 oviducts, 2 separate uteruses
    • 3 vaginas open into a shared urogenital sinus
      • 2 lateral vaginas through which sperm travels up to each uterus
      • 1 central birth canal - very short in tree kangaroos
    • Forward-facing pouch with 4 functional teats, as in other kangaroos
  • Male reproductive organs - similar to other kangaroos
    • Penis long and tapering; head covered with small, sharp spines
    • Testes carried in external scrotum, in front of penis
      • Buergers' and Matschie's tree kangaroos - relatively large testes
  • Urogenital canal very long
  • Urine and feces released from cloaca (single posterior opening)
  • Kidneys studied in Matschie's tree kangaroo - unusual structure (Yadav 1979, as cited in Flannery et al. 1996)
    • Nephrons (kidney's filtration units) empty individually into a cribiform plate (sieve-like structure) instead of joining together in a papilla
    • Thinnest medulla of 14 macropodid species studied - suggests poor ability to concentrate urine
• Nervous system (Martin 2005)
  • Tree kangaroos have large brains relative to body size for marsupials

The distinctive dorsal stripes and tail bands of Buergers' tree kangaroo.

Image credit: © By C. Burnett, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Bush & Montali (1991)
Flannery (1993)
Flannery (1995)
Flannery et al. (1996)
Hutchins et al. (1991)
Iwaniuk (1998)
Martin (2005)
Moeller (1990)
Travis (2012)
Warburton et al. (2011)
Yadav (1979)