The tammar wallaby is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar is common within its reduced range and is listed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously eradicated. Skull differences distinguish tammars from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island and mainland South Australia, making them distinct populations groups or possibly different subspecies. Around the size of a rabbit, the tammar is among the smallest of the wallabies. Its coat is largely grey. It has colour vision, can drink seawater, and can hop efficiently using tendons that act like springs. A nocturnal species, it spends nighttime in grassland habitat and daytime in shrub. It is very gregarious and has a seasonal, promiscuous mating pattern. A female tammar can nurse a joey in her pouch while keeping an embryo in her uterus. The tammar is a model species for research on marsupials, and on mammals in general. It is one of many organisms whose genome has been sequenced.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammar_wallaby
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1800:
War of the Second Coalition: French forces under General Jean Moreau defeated the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John in Hohenlinden, near Munich, forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hohenlinden
1834:
The German Customs Union instituted the first regular census in Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_in_Germany
1904:
Himalia, the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter, was discovered by astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory in San Jose, California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalia_(moon)
1984:
Methyl isocyanate and other toxic chemicals were accidentally released from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, causing the world's worst industrial disaster. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
1992:
During extreme weather conditions, the oil tanker Aegean Sea ran aground off the coast of Galicia, Spain, spilling 67,000 tonnes of light crude oil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegean_Sea_oil_spill
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
fleeting: Passing quickly. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fleeting
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The mind of man is capable of anything — because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future. What was there after all? Joy, fear, sorrow, devotion, valour, rage — who can tell? — but truth — truth stripped of its cloak of time. Let the fool gape and shudder — the man knows, and can look on without a wink. --Heart of Darkness https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Heart_of_Darkness