Brush wallabies of the genus Notamacropus, like the agile wallaby (Notamacropus agilis) and the red-necked wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus), are most closely related to the kangaroos and wallaroos and, aside from their size, look very similar.
Wallabies are almost an exact miniature of kangaroos. Though they can measure up to 6 feet in height from head to tail, wallabies tend to be much smaller than kangaroos, which can reach up to 8 feet in height from head to tail. Another way to tell wallabies and kangaroos apart is from their hind legs.
Regardless of your associations, surely, you've wondered what the difference is between a kangaroo (Macropodidae) and a wallaby (Notamacropus). They look so much alike. They're both marsupials, meaning they're born as an embryo and are developed, carried and suckled in a pouch on the mother's belly.
What animals are marsupials? There are more than 250 species of marsupials. Examples of marsupials include but are not limited to kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, the koala, the Tasmanian devil, and opossums.
Diprotodonts - these are the largely herbivorous marsupials: kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koalas, wombats.
The kangaroo superfamily consists of 2 family groups. Kangaroos, wallabies, pademelons and tree kangaroos make up one family, while rat-kangaroos, bettongs and potoroos make up the other. There are 45 species of kangaroos and wallabies.
Wallabies
They belong to the same family as kangaroos. "Wallaby" is a general name used for any macropod that is smaller than the kangaroo.
The giant kangaroo rat has a large, flattened head and a short neck. Large, fur-lined cheek pouches are used to store and carry seeds found while foraging. Their tails are longer than their combined head and body length. The tails have a crest of long hairs, terminating in a large tuft.
All kangaroos have short hair, powerful hind legs, small forelimbs, big feet and a long tail. They have excellent hearing and keen eyesight. Depending on the species, their fur coat can be red, grey or light to dark brown. Their muscular tail is used for balance when hopping, and as another limb when moving about.
Another pygmy possum standout: The Tasmanian pygmy possum (Cercartetus lepidus), which is the smallest marsupial species in the world. Adults measure just 3 inches long (not including their tail) and weigh less than half an ounce.
One animal that is sometimes seen and mistaken for a rat is in fact a small carnivorous marsupial - the Antechinus. While there are several species of Antechinus in Australia, they share several traits in common, which, taken together, can set them apart from rodents such as rats and mice.
How to describe the long-eared jerboa? The tiny, furtive rodent—native to the deserts of northwest China and southern Mongolia—has a mouse-like body, rabbity ears, a snout like a pig's, and back legs that look like a miniature model of a kangaroo's.
Color: Wallabies have much more colorful, distinct fur than kangaroos. Kangaroos have a coat of a muted color, such as brown or gray. Wallabies, however, have a variety of two or three colors on their coat, some being a striking brown or light fur.
The northern hopping mouse (Notomys aquilo) is found only in coastal northern Australia, from Arnhem Land to the Cobourg Peninsula. The fawn hopping mouse (Notomys cervinus) is found on the sparsely vegetated arid gibber plains and claypans of the Lake Eyre Basin.
The name "kangaroo mouse" refers to the species' extraordinary jumping ability, as well as its habit of bipedal locomotion. The two species are: Dark kangaroo mouse – Microdipodops megacephalus. Pale kangaroo mouse – Microdipodops pallidus.
Kowari. The kowari is a small marsupial midway between a mouse and rat in size. It is grey with a large tuft of bushy black hair at the end of its tail (the species' alternative name is brush-tailed marsupial rat). The kowari is found in deserts and shrublands in the Channel Country in the Australian outback.
Marsupials
As you already know, marsupials — which include kangaroos, koalas, wombats and possums — have pouches called “marsupiums” for keeping their young protected and nourished. These built-in pockets are marvels of engineering.
The koala is an iconic Australian animal. Often called the koala “bear,” this tree-climbing animal is a marsupial—a mammal with a pouch for the development of offspring. Though koalas look fuzzy, their hair is more like the coarse wool of a sheep.
Kangaroos are famous for carrying their baby joeys in their pouches. Other marsupials—quokkas, wombats, wallabies, koalas, quolls, Tasmanian devils, and opossums, for example—also carry their young in this way.
Australian marsupials can be divided up on what they eat
Diprotodonts — these are the largely herbivorous marsupials: kangaroos, wallabies, possums, koalas, wombats, and, bizarrely, the extinct hypercarnivore the marsupial lion, a horrific carnivorous wombat.
Living marsupials include opossums, Tasmanian devils, kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies, and bandicoots among others, while many extinct species, such as the thylacine, are also known.