The Individual Behaviors of Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo: Repertoire and Taxonomic Implications

Lumholtz's tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagus lumholtzi) are arboreal macropodids that spend the majority of their time in trees. Lumholtz's tree-kangaroos are primarily nocturnal: most of their long-distance movements occur at night, although some feeding and moving activity occurs during the day. The behavioral repertoire of D. lumholtzi, including modes of locomotion, resting postures, and feeding and comfort movements, is similar to the previously-described repertoire of D. inustus, especially in that paired limbs are often moved simultaneously. This repertoire appears to be closer to that of a hypothetical ground-dwelling ancestor than repertoires reported for D. matschiei and D. dorianus. This conclusion agrees with recent systematic work based on morphologies of the genus.