The Petrogale xanthopus, or the Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby is the largest out of all rock wallabies. It is in the Class Mammalia, Order Diprotodontia and family Macropodidae, the same family as kangaroos. The wallaby is known for its bright colors and distinct patterning among the other wallabies with its complex mixture of brown, grey, white and yellow-orange fur to help them camouflage in the rocks. P. xanthopus look like tiny kangaroos that have big ears, large hind feet, and a very long tail that has dark ornamental rings running down its length. The Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies are approximately 19-26 inches long and usually weigh 7 to 13kg. They have a lifespan of about 10 years. These wallabies live in relatively small colonies and are…show more content… They typically only have one baby at a time although twins are known to happen. They have a really short gestation period, lasting only 31 to 32 days, and when the baby is born, it crawls into the mother’s pouch and continues to develop for about another 195 days. The young wallaby will still drink their mother’s milk even after they leave their mother’s pouch. Although they have no distinguishable breeding season, it is believed that the amount of births is influenced by food availability. The Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies are herbivores who mainly eat grass, but during droughts, they rely on leaves from trees and shrubs. They also have the unique ability to drink 10% of their body weight within a few minutes to stay hydrated during the hot summers. They are very fast and agile and they can easily move around mountaintops with their ability to jump as far as 13 feet and they use their tails for balance. Their hind feet also have pads on them that offer traction when they are jumping from rock to rock. When a predator like a fox, wild cat or wedge-tailed eagle is approaching, a wallaby will thump its feet to warn the
