Mini kangaroos - the tammar wallaby
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325604)
Rockingham, Australia
June 19, 2022 4:24am CST
I mentioned tammar wallabies (Notamacropus eugenii) in my last post so thought I’d tell you a bit more about them. They are among the smallest of their genus and are pretty much like mini kangaroos. They are about 18 inches (45cm) in height and their tails are 13-18 inches long. They have a small head, large ears and are mostly dark grey-brown in colour with paler underparts.
It has several notable traits. It has some colour vision and can drink seawater. Like most plains-dwelling macropods, it is able to retain energy when hopping. It is only found in South and Western Australia. They are easy to keep in captivity and my father had several as pets when he was young. We saw some at the Bunbury Wildlife Park. However, they were in a pen with some other wallabies and I can’t be sure that the photo I have is of a tammar so I’m using a free-to-use photo from Wikimedia.
For some reason, the tammar is a model species for research on marsupials and on mammals in general. I wonder why the tammar was picked for this role.
23 people like this
23 responses
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jun 22
@crossbones27 Surely whales wouldn't have any options about what they drink. 
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
19 Jun 22
I suspect, but don't know for sure, that the tammar wallabies are used in scientific research because they're small-ish, easy to care for and people tend not to complain about them being used for research purposes. (That's the reason rats and mice are used for a lot of research purposes, too.)
I wonder how they're able to drink seawater without running into problems?
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
19 Jun 22
@JudyEv Most places use rats and mice for that type of work.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jun 22
@DaddyEvil True but maybe they need something a bit larger for some things.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169883)
• United States
19 Jun 22
They are a adorable. One of the local pet stores here used to include a wallaby. However, sadly that place went out of business. They really loved animals and was where I got my last cat. He had such a great disposition and was really smart.. I think they really paid a lot of attention to him.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (169883)
• United States
20 Jun 22
@JudyEv They probably had an exotic pet license. However, I don't think it was for sale
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Jun 22
@snowy22315 Oh I see. I don't think it would be a good idea to have them for sale.
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Jun 22
Macropod translates to 'big feet' but I'm sure you would have guessed that. Macropods divide into kangaroos, wallaroos and wallabies. The main difference is in the size, with kangaroos being the tallest and heaviest followed by wallaroos then wallabies.
2 people like this
@Beestring (13306)
• Hong Kong
19 Jun 22
Very cute! When I visited Australia a few years ago, I saw some kangaroos. They are lovely.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jun 22
@Beestring That would have been very entertaining.
1 person likes this
@Beestring (13306)
• Hong Kong
19 Jun 22
@JudyEv Yes. I also remember the penguin parade on Phillip Island.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
19 Jun 22
Thanks for sharing these details about the tammar.
Very informative.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58438)
• Philippines
20 Jun 22
@JudyEv will have to further look into this.
1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (48417)
• Mojave, California
19 Jun 22
You guys really do not like kangaroo's that much from what I saw, no one mentioned anything other than they get kind of annoying and not much mention of the little ones just they not as annoying and people seemed to like the Koalas fairly good though. I do not know I am sure Australia a lot different now than when I was there.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (62085)
• United States
19 Jun 22
they are so cute! I guess we think so because we don’t have them being disruptive to farmers the way they are in Australia.
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (95082)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Jun 22
That would be a fun pet. Their smaller size would make them easier to handle so that might be why they are used.
2 people like this
@aninditasen (15732)
• Raurkela, India
19 Jun 22
A cute animal. Thanks that your country is preserving the marsupials family species. We had read about it in our zoology honours classes in my graduation.
2 people like this
@aninditasen (15732)
• Raurkela, India
20 Jun 22
@JudyEv Yes, and from them generated the higher animals like the mammals.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jun 22
Yes, there are quite a few different species of 'roo.
@rsa101 (37932)
• Philippines
20 Jun 22
I'm not familiar with marsupials in general, and I've only seen Kangaroos and Koalas. I know they have their own pouches for their offspring that set them apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. I'm not aware of any other varieties of themselves, such as Tammar wallabies and the like. They are, however, a very distinct animal species because of their well-known pouches.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Jun 22
Kangaroos and some other marsupials can also delay the development of embryos until conditions are good. They can also have a youngster outside the pouch, a baby in the pouch and another one developing in the womb. They can produce two different types of milk for the young and older babies too. Nature is certainly remarkable.
1 person likes this
@yanzalong (18984)
• Indonesia
19 Jun 22
I have never seen this kind of animal. It looks funny with two short front legs.
2 people like this
@dgobucks226 (34343)
•
22 Jun 22
Now those are some very educational fun facts about the tammar 
You would think the salt in that seawater would make them thirstier. They must have a way to adapt to it like some sea creatures.
You would think the salt in that seawater would make them thirstier. They must have a way to adapt to it like some sea creatures.1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (34343)
•
24 Jun 22
@JudyEv Aha, very similar to how marine animals use their kidneys to process both fresh and salt water!
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26780)
• United States
20 Jun 22
Pets,... interesting. Then they are like dogs?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325604)
• Rockingham, Australia
21 Jun 22
@oahuwriter Yes, they are gentle creatures although I guess uncastrated males might get a bit bolshie.
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26780)
• United States
20 Jun 22
@JudyEv
Ok. Since they can be pets, very nice temperament?
1 person likes this
