Andrew Isles Natural History Books

Page 44 (Dorcopsis atrata) Goodenough Island is a three-kilometre-high mitre of rock that projects out of the sea off New Guinea's east coast. Until a team of biologists climbed to its mist-shrouded, rainforested summit in the 1950s, nobody apart from the islanders suspected that it might be the only home of a very strange member of the kangaroo family. The black dorcopsis is a living fossil, a primitive relic of a bygone age when rainforest covered much of Australia. Many individuals have white `sox' on one or both of their front paws, and a white tail tip, which contrast strongly with the black body fur. The black dorcopsis spends its days hopping through the dense vegetation, seeking leaves, fruit and possibly the occasional insect. Perhaps for fear of leeches, it never lays the full length of its tail on the ground, instead letting only the tip contact terra firma. Not only is this animal one of the last members of the kangaroo family to be discovered, it is also one of the rarest and least studied. Its entire habitat covers less than 100 square kilometres, and it is avidly hunted by the islanders, which means that it is probably one of the most endangered as well.
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