Dingiso

Open encyclopedia reference

The dingiso () (Dendrolagus mbaiso), also known as the bondegezou or bakaga, is an endangered, long-tailed marsupial found only in mountain forests on the west of the island of New Guinea (in Indonesia). It is a species of tree-kangaroo (genus Dendrolagus), which are mammals native to Australia and New Guinea that feed on leaves or other plant matter. It belongs to the macropodid family (Macropodidae) with kangaroos, and carries its young in a pouch like most other marsupials. Though sacred to the local Moni people, it is still threatened by hunting and habitat loss.

Dr Tim Flannery and his team gave the species name mbaiso which means "the forbidden animal" in Moni, because of the local belief that dingiso is the spirit of their ancestors. Locally Dingiso is called Bakaga.

Wikipedia contributors, Dingiso; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:21:12.605422+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Dendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995

Name authority

Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995

Common name

Dingiso

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Diprotodontia

Family

Macropodidae

Genus

Dendrolagus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
11. orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
12. suborderMacropodiformes Ameghino, 1889
13. familyMacropodidae Gray, 1821
14. subfamilyMacropodinae Gray, 1821
15. genusDendrolagus S. Müller, 1840
16. speciesDendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Dendrolagus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 46 records assigned to Macropodidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=709405 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:34QBV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.