Purple-necked rock-wallaby
| Purple-necked rock-wallaby | |
|---|---|
| |
| Near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Diprotodontia |
| Family: | Macropodidae |
| Genus: | Petrogale |
| Species: | P. purpureicollis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Petrogale purpureicollis (Le Souef, 1924)
| |
| |
| Purple-necked rock-wallaby range | |
The purple-necked rock-wallaby (Petrogale purpureicollis) is a species of rock-wallaby first described in 1924 by Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, then director of the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, who noted a purple colouration around the neck and cranial features that distinguish it from other rock-wallaby species.
The purple colouration was thought by some sceptical scientists to be due to the animal rubbing against a dye, but the animal does in fact secrete a purple pigment. The pigment is known to wash off in the rain and fade away after death, causing some possible confusion with other rock-wallaby species.
The species has undergone taxonomic upheaval for decades and has variously been classified as an unadorned rock-wallaby, brush-tailed rock-wallaby, and black-flanked rock-wallaby. Le Souef and others have asserted that it was a new species, and this has been affirmed by a 2001 paper in the Australian Journal of Zoology.
References
- ^ McKnight, M. (2008). "Petrogale purpureicollis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
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External links
- Entry into the Australian Journal of Zoology
- Short biography of Albert Sherbourne Le Souef
- ABC article This page has an image.
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