The tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar remains common within its reduced range and it is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously eradicated. Skull differences distinguish tammars from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island and mainland South Australia, making them distinct populations groups or possibly different subspecies.
Around the size of a rabbit, the tammar is among the smallest of the wallabies. Its coat colour is largely grey. The tammar has several notable adaptations, including the ability to retain energy while hopping, colour vision and the ability to drink seawater. A nocturnal species, it spends nighttime in grassland habitat and daytime in shrub. It is also very gregarious and has a seasonal, promiscuous mating pattern. A female tammar can nurse a joey in her pouch while keeping an embryo in her uterus. The tammar is a model species for research on marsupials, and on mammals in general. It is one of many organisms to have had its genome sequenced.
Read more about Tammar Wallaby: Taxonomy and Classification, Population Dynamics and Conservation, Appearance and Physiology, Ecology and Life History