NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo
Dendrolagus mayri Rothschild & Dollman, 1933
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus mayri) is a critically endangered, bear-like mammal native to tropical mountain forests on the island of New Guinea in Western Papua. Elusive and rare, it was considered extinct until rediscovery in 2018. It is a species of tree-kangaroo (genus Dendrolagus), a group of long-tailed, bear-like animals native to Australia and New Guinea that mostly live in trees and feed on plant matter. Tree-kangaroos belong to the macropod family (Macropodidae) with kangaroos, and carry their young in a pouch like most other marsupials. The Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo is likely threatened by hunting, and is known only from remote mountains on the Wondiwoi Peninsula in northwest New Guinea. Until 2018, the wondiwoi tree-kangaroo was known only from a single specimen collected in 1928. The only known specimen is a male weighing 9.25 kilograms (20.4 lb). D. mayri was located in the Wondiwoi Peninsula of West Papua at an elevation of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) within montane rain forest. It is thought that the Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo could occupy an area of 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi).
Wikipedia contributors, Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:50:44.299260+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dendrolagus mayri Rothschild & Dollman, 1933
- Name authority
- Rothschild & Dollman, 1933
- Common name
- Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDiprotodontia Owen, 1866
- suborderMacropodiformes Ameghino, 1889
- familyMacropodidae Gray, 1821
- subfamilyMacropodinae Gray, 1821
- genusDendrolagus S. Müller, 1840
- speciesDendrolagus mayri Rothschild & Dollman, 1933
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dendrolagus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Bennett's Tree KangarooDendrolagus bennettianus De Vis, 1886 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Doria's Tree KangarooDendrolagus dorianus Ramsay, 1883 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Goodfellow's Tree KangarooDendrolagus goodfellowi Thomas, 1908 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-mantled Tree KangarooDendrolagus pulcherrimus Flannery, 1993 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Scott's Tree KangarooDendrolagus scottae Flannery & Seri, 1990 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grizzled Tree KangarooDendrolagus inustus S. Müller, 1840 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lumholtz's Tree KangarooDendrolagus lumholtzi Collett, 1884 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| DingisoDendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi & Szalay, 1995 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lowland Tree KangarooDendrolagus spadix Troughton & Le Souef, 1936 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Seri's Tree KangarooDendrolagus stellarum Flannery & Seri, 1990 | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ursine Tree-kangarooDendrolagus ursinus (Temminck, 1836) | MacropodidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Dendrolagus dorianus mayri Rothschild & Dollman, 1933 Rothschild & Dollman, 1933 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1255681 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:DTCQM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.