{{Short description|Macropods of Australia and New Guinea}}{{More citations needed|date=October 2025}}{{Other uses|Wallaby (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|Wallabies|the rugby team|Australia national rugby union team}} {{pp-semi-indef}} {{pp-move-indef|small=yes}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} [[File:Red necked wallaby444.jpg|thumb|A red-necked wallaby]] A '''wallaby''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|w|ɒ|l|ə|b|i}}) is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/hunting/what-to-hunt/wallabies/|title=Wallabies|last=(DOC)|first=corporatename = New Zealand Department of Conservation|website=www.doc.govt.nz|language=en|access-date=2018-06-18}}</ref> Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and sometimes the same genus, but the common name "kangaroo" specifically refers to the four largest species of the family. The term "wallaby" is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or a wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise.<ref name="Australian Wildlife">{{cite web|work=australianwildlife.com.au|title=The Kangaroo|url=http://www.australianwildlife.com.au/kangaroos|access-date=6 November 2013}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Brush wallaby}} There are nine species (eight extant and one extinct) of the '''brush wallaby''' (genus ''Notamacropus''). Their head and body length is {{convert|45|to|105|cm|in|abbr=on}} and the tail is {{convert|33|to|75|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. The 19 known species of rock-wallabies (genus ''Petrogale'') live among rocks, usually near water; two species in this genus are endangered. The two living species of hare-wallabies (genus ''Lagorchestes''; two other species in this genus are extinct) are small animals that have the movements and some of the habits of hares. The three species (two extant and one extinct) of nail-tail wallabies (genus ''Onychogalea'') have one notable feature: a horny spur at the tip of the tail; its function is unknown. The seven species of pademelons or scrub wallabies (genus ''Thylogale'') of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Tasmania are small and stocky, with short hind limbs and pointed noses. The swamp wallaby (genus ''Wallabia'') is the only species in its genus. Another wallaby that is monotypic is the quokka or short-tailed scrub wallaby (genus ''Setonix''); this species is restricted to two offshore islands of Western Australia which are free of introduced predators. The seven species of dorcopsises or forest wallabies (genera ''Dorcopsis'' (four species, with a fifth as yet undescribed) and ''Dorcopsulus'' (two species)) are all native to the island of New Guinea.
One of the brush wallaby species, the dwarf wallaby (''Notamacropus dorcopsulus''), also native to New Guinea, is the smallest known wallaby species and one of the smallest known macropods. Its length is about {{convert|46|cm|in|abbr=on}} from the nose to the end of the tail, and it weighs about {{convert|1.6|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/634732/wallaby|title=Wallaby|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref>
Wallabies are hunted for meat and fur.
==Etymology and terminology== The name ''wallaby'' comes from Dharug ''walabi'' or ''waliba''.{{citation needed|date=January 2017}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wallaby |work=a-z animals.com |date=25 July 2020 |url=https://a-z-animals.com/animals/wallaby/}}</ref> Another early name for the wallaby, in use from at least 1802, was the ''brush-kangaroo''.<ref>Morris, Edward (1898, London, Macmillan & Co, reprinted 1973, Sydney), ''A dictionary of Austral English'', Sydney University Press, p.59.{{ISBN|0424063905}}</ref>
Young wallabies are referred to as "joeys", like many other marsupials. Adult male wallabies are referred to as "bucks", "boomers", or "jacks". Adult female wallabies are referred to as "does", "flyers", or "jills". A group of wallabies is called a "mob", "court", or "troupe". Scrub-dwelling and forest-dwelling wallabies are known as "pademelons" (genus ''Thylogale'') and "dorcopsises" (genera ''Dorcopsis'' and ''Dorcopsulus''), respectively.
==General description== [[File:Agile Wallaby family.jpg|thumb|An agile wallaby family]] Although members of most wallaby species are small, some can grow up to approximately two metres in length (from the head to the end of the tail). Their powerful hind legs are used not only for bounding at high speeds and jumping great heights, but also to administer vigorous kicks to fend off potential predators. The tammar wallaby (''Notamacropus eugenii'') has elastic storage in the ankle extensor tendons, without which the animal's metabolic rate might be 30–50% greater.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Biewener|first=A. A.|author2=Baudinette, R. V. |title=''In vivo'' muscle force and elastic energy storage during steady-speed hopping of tammar wallabies (''Macropus eugenii'')|url=http://e.guigon.free.fr/rsc/article/BiewenerBaudinette95.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://e.guigon.free.fr/rsc/article/BiewenerBaudinette95.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|date=September 1995|volume=198|issue=9|pages=1829–1841|doi=10.1242/jeb.198.9.1829|pmid=9319738 |bibcode=1995JExpB.198.1829B |doi-access=free}}</ref> It has also been found that the design of spring-like tendon energy savings and economical muscle force generation is key for the two distal muscle–tendon units of the tammar wallaby (''Macropus-Eugenii'').<ref>{{cite journal|author=Biewener, A. A.; McGowan, C. Card, G. M. Baudinette, R. V.|title=Dynamics of leg muscle function in tammar wallabies (''M. eugenii'') during level ''versus'' incline hopping|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|date=January 2004|volume=207|issue=2|pages=211–223|doi=10.1242/Jeb.00764|pmid=14668306|bibcode=2004JExpB.207..211B |s2cid=15031876|url=http://authors.library.caltech.edu/25265/1/BIEjeb04.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://authors.library.caltech.edu/25265/1/BIEjeb04.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref> Wallabies also have a powerful tail that is used mostly for balance and support.
==Diet== {{unreferenced section|date=May 2019}} Wallabies are herbivores whose diet consists of a wide range of grasses, vegetables, leaves and other foliage. Due to recent urbanization, many wallabies feed in rural and urban areas. Wallabies cover vast distances for food and water, which is often scarce in their environment. Mobs of wallabies often congregate around the same water hole during the dry season.
==Threats== {{unreferenced section|date=October 2018}} Wallabies face several threats. Dingoes, domestic and feral dogs, feral cats, and red foxes are among their predators. Humans also pose a significant threat to wallabies due to increased interaction (wallabies can defend themselves with hard kicks and biting). Many wallabies have been involved in vehicular accidents, as they often feed near roads and urban areas.
==Classification== {{More citations needed|section|find=Wallaby classification|date=October 2025}} Wallabies are not a distinct genetic group. Nevertheless, they fall into several broad categories.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} Brush wallabies of the genus ''Notamacropus'', like the agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis'') and the red-necked wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus''), are most closely related to the kangaroos and wallaroos and, aside from their size, look very similar. These are the ones most frequently seen, particularly in the southern states.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
[[Image:Wallaby joey face in pouch.jpg|thumb|A red-necked wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'') joey in a pouch]] Rock-wallabies (genus ''Petrogale''), rather like the goats of the Northern Hemisphere, specialise in rugged terrain and have modified feet adapted to grip rock with skin friction rather than dig into soil with large claws. There are at least 19 species and the relationship between several of them is still poorly understood. Several species are endangered. Captive rock-wallaby breeding programs, like the one at Healesville Sanctuary, have had some success and a small number have recently been released into the wild.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
The banded hare-wallaby (''Lagostrophus fasciatus'') is thought to be the last remaining member of the once numerous subfamily Sthenurinae, and although once common across southern Australia,{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} it is restricted to two islands off the Western Australian coast which are free of introduced predators. It is not as closely related to the other hare-wallabies (genus ''Lagorchestes'') as the hare-wallabies are to the other wallabies.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
New Guinea, which was, until fairly recent geological times, part of mainland Australia,<ref>See Australia (continent)</ref> has at least five species of wallabies.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}}
==Natural range and habitat== Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos.{{Citation needed|date=October 2025}} They also can be found on the island of New Guinea.<ref>For example, the agile wallaby – and arguably the many species of tree-kangaroos</ref>
==Introduced populations== Wallabies of several species have been introduced to other parts of the world, and there are a number of successfully breeding introduced populations, including: * Kawau Island in New Zealand is home to large numbers of tammar, parma, swamp and brush-tailed rock-wallabies from introductions made around 1870.<ref name="Shaw2002">{{CiteQ|Q110606750}}</ref> They are considered pests on the island,<ref name=hunt>[http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/hunting/what-to-hunt/wallabies/where-to-hunt-wallabies/ "Where to hunt wallabies"]. Department of Conservation, New Zealand</ref> but a programme to translocate them to Australia has met with only limited success.<ref>Napp, Bernie (4 September 2006). [http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/428/joey-award.pdf Auckland Conservacy wins Joey Award]. Department of Conservation, New Zealand</ref> * The Lake Tarawera area of New Zealand has a large tammar wallaby population.<ref name=hunt/><ref>[http://www.connovation.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=102&Itemid=220 Wallabies: Introduction], connovation.co.nz</ref> * The South Canterbury district of New Zealand has a large population of red-necked wallabies.<ref name=hunt/><ref>[http://ecan.govt.nz/advice/your-land/plant-animal-pests/managing-animal-pests/Pages/wallabies.aspx Wallabies]. ecan.govt.nz</ref> * On the Isle of Man in the Ballaugh Curraghs area, there is a population of ared-necked wallabies, descended from a pair that escaped from the nearby Curraghs Wildlife Park in 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-11560079 |title=Searching for the Isle of Man's wild wallabies |work=BBC News |date=17 October 2010 |access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Survey finds more than 560 wallabies living in wild on Isle of Man |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51lgxljnw7o |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=BBC News |date=15 May 2023 |language=en-GB}}</ref> Their numbers have increased to be in excess of 1000 animals.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Curragh |first1=Ballaugh |title=A British island infested with wallaby invaders |url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/09/06/a-british-island-infested-with-wallaby-invaders |work=The Economist |access-date=13 September 2025 |date=6 September 2025}}</ref> * Hawaii has a small non-native population of wallabies in the upper regions of Kalihi Valley on the island of Oahu.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.earlham.edu/~biol/hawaii/mammals.htm |title=Earlham College – Biology Department – Introduced Species In Hawaii – Mammals |publisher=Earlham.edu |date=9 December 1959 |access-date=23 March 2013 |archive-date=8 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108135251/http://legacy.earlham.edu/~biol/hawaii/mammals.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> arising from an escape of zoo specimens of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby in 1916. * In the Peak District of England, a population was established around 1940<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1971.tb02203.x|title=Wallabies in the Peak District|year=2009|last1=Yalden|first1=D. W.|last2=Hosey|first2=G. R.|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=165|issue=4|pages=513}}</ref> by five escapees from a local zoo: as of September 2017 sightings were still being made in the area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roaches.org.uk/wallabies.htm |title=Wallabies and yaks |publisher=The Roaches Peak District, Roaches.org.uk |access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref> At its peak in 1975, the population numbered around 60 individuals.{{citation needed|date=January 2026}} * The island of Inchconnachan in Loch Lomond, Scotland, has a population of around 28 red-necked wallabies introduced by Lady Colquhoun in the 1920s.<ref name=lln>{{cite web| url=http://www.loch-lomond.net/islands/inchconnachan.html| title=Loch Lomond Islands: Inchconnachan| publisher=Loch Lomond.net| access-date=24 August 2007}}</ref> Eradication to protect the native capercaillie has been proposed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2009/06/06/loch-lomond-wallabies-set-for-cull-to-protect-local-wildlife-86908-21419099/ |title=Scottish Daily Record, 06/06/2009 Colony of Wallabies set for cull |work=Daily Record|location=Scotland |date=6 June 2009 |access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lennoxherald.co.uk/dunbartonshire-news/dunbartonshire-news/loch-lomondside-news/2009/06/05/wallabies-face-being-wiped-out-114557-23773081/ |title=Wallabies face being wiped out |date=5 June 2009|author= McLean, Marc |work=Lennoxherald.co.uk |access-date=23 March 2013}}</ref> * There is a small population on Lambay Island off the eastern coast of Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |author=Dolan, Brian |url=http://www.seandalaiocht.com/1/post/2010/07/archaeological-wallabies-on-lambay-island.html |title=Archaeological Wallabies on Lambay Island |work=seandalaiocht.com |date=8 July 2010 |access-date=9 January 2014 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730065031/http://www.seandalaiocht.com/1/post/2010/07/archaeological-wallabies-on-lambay-island.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Initially introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, more were introduced in the 1980s after a sudden population explosion at Dublin Zoo.<ref>{{cite web|author=Connally, Colleen |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-heck-are-wallabies-doing-ireland-180953304/ |title=What the Heck Are Wallabies Doing in Ireland? |work=smithsonianmag.com |date=12 November 2014}}</ref> * Populations in the United Kingdom that, for some periods, bred successfully included one near Teignmouth, Devon; in the Ashdown Forest.in East Sussex; Cornwall;<ref>{{cite news |title=Wallabies from Australia have gained a foothold in the U.K. and may be there for good |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/nov-14-covid-vaccine-immune-durability-wallabies-in-the-uk-ancient-female-hunters-and-more-1.5799632/wallabies-from-australia-have-gained-a-foothold-in-the-u-k-and-may-be-there-for-good-1.5799646 |access-date=3 December 2020 |work=CBC Radio |date=13 November 2020}}</ref> and on the islands of Bute and Lundy.{{cn|date=August 2025}} * In France, in the southern part of the Forest of Rambouillet, about {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} west of Paris, there is a wild group of around 30 red-necked wallabies. This population has been present since the 1970s, when some individuals escaped from the zoological park of Émancé after a storm.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013013730/http://www.cerf78.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=307 Enquête sur le Wallaby de Bennett en Forêt d'Yvelines]. cerf78.fr</ref>
==Species== [[Image:Wallabies-mother-and-son.jpg|thumb|A female wallaby with a joey in the Tasmanian summer rain]] [[Image:Swamp-Wallaby-Feeding-2,-Vic,-Jan.2008.jpg|thumb|The swamp wallaby is the only living representative of the genus ''Wallabia''. This individual exhibits the species' unusual preference for browsing; note the use of the forelimbs to grasp the plant.]] thumb|Three wallabies (one grey with a joey in her pouch and one white) in captivity in England{{unreferenced section|date=October 2025}} The term "wallaby" is not well defined and can mean any macropod of moderate or small size. Therefore, the listing below is arbitrary and taken from the complete list of macropods. <!--PLEASE RESPECT ALPHABETICAL ORDER-->
Genus ''Notamacropus'' * Agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis'') * Black-striped wallaby (''Notamacropus dorsalis'') * Parma wallaby (''Notamacropus parma'') (rediscovered, thought to have been extinct for 100 years) * Red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby (''Notamacropus rufogriseus'') * Tammar wallaby (''Notamacropus eugenii'') * Toolache wallaby (''Notamacropus greyi'') †(extinct) * Western brush wallaby (''Notamacropus irma'') * Whiptail wallaby (''Notamacropus parryi'')
Genus ''Wallabia'' * Swamp wallaby or black wallaby (''Wallabia bicolor'')
Genus ''Petrogale'' * Allied rock-wallaby (''Petrogale assimilis'') * Black-flanked rock-wallaby (''Petrogale lateralis'') * Brush-tailed rock-wallaby (''Petrogale penicillata'') * Cape York rock-wallaby (''Petrogale coenensis'') * Eastern short-eared rock-wallaby (''Petrogale wilkinsi'') * Godman's rock-wallaby (''Petrogale godmani'') * Herbert's rock-wallaby (''Petrogale herberti'') * Mareeba rock-wallaby (''Petrogale mareeba'') * Monjon (''Petrogale burbidgei'') * Mount Claro rock-wallaby (''Petrogale sharmani'') * Nabarlek (''Petrogale concinna'') * Proserpine rock-wallaby (''Petrogale persephone'') * Purple-necked rock-wallaby (''Petrogale purpureicollis'') * Rothschild's rock-wallaby (''Petrogale rothschildi'') * Short-eared rock-wallaby (''Petrogale brachyotis'') * Unadorned rock-wallaby (''Petrogale inornata'') * Yellow-footed rock-wallaby (''Petrogale xanthopus'')
Genus ''Lagostrophus'' * Banded hare-wallaby (''Lagostrophus fasciatus'')
Genus ''Lagorchestes'' * Eastern hare-wallaby (''Lagorchestes leporides'') †(extinct) * Lake Mackay hare-wallaby (''Lagorchestes asomatus'') †(extinct) * Rufous hare-wallaby (''Lagorchestes hirsutus'') * Spectacled hare-wallaby (''Lagorchestes conspicillatus''))
Genus ''Onychogalea'' * Bridled nail-tail wallaby (''Onychogalea fraenata'') * Crescent nail-tail wallaby (''Onychogalea lunata'') † (extinct) * Northern nail-tail wallaby (''Onychogalea unguifera'')
Genus ''Dorcopsis'' * Black dorcopsis (''Dorcopsis atrata'') * Brown dorcopsis (''Dorcopsis muelleri'') * Gray dorcopsis (''Dorcopsis luctuosa'') * White-striped dorcopsis (''Dorcopsis hageni'')
Genus ''Dorcopsulus'' * Macleay's dorcopsis (''Dorcopsulus macleayi'') * Small dorcopsis (''Dorcopsulus vanhuemi'')
Genus ''Thylogale'' * Brown's pademelon (''Thylogale browni'') * Calaby's pademelon (''Thylogale calabyi'') * Dusky pademelon (''Thylogale brunii'') * Mountain pademelon (''Thylogale lanatus'') * Red-legged pademelon (''Thylogale stigmatica'') * Red-necked pademelon (''Thylogale thetis'') * Tasmanian pademelon (''Thylogale billardierii'')
Genus ''Setonix'' * Quokka or short-tailed scrub wallaby (''Setonix brachyurus'')
==References== {{Reflist|35em}}
== External links == {{Wiktionary|wallaby}} * [http://www.furry.org.au/kangaroos/ Roophilia – photographs of kangaroos and wallabies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304235856/http://www.furry.org.au/kangaroos/ |date=4 March 2021 }} * {{UCSC genomes|macEug2}} * View the [http://www.ensembl.org/Macropus_eugenii/Info/Index/ wallaby genome] in Ensembl
{{Diprotodontia|M.}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Macropods Category:Mammal common names Category:Marsupials of Australia