Purple-necked Rock-wallaby

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Purple-necked Rock-wallaby^[1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Subclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Diprotodontia
Family:	Macropodidae
Genus:	Petrogale
Species:	P. purpureicollis

Binomial name

Petrogale purpureicollis
(Le Souef, 1924)

The Purple-necked Rock-wallaby (Petrogale purpureicollis) was first classified in 1924 by Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, then director of the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, who noted a strange purple coloration around the neck as well as skull differences separating it from other rock-wallaby species. The species has undergone taxonomic upheaval for decades and has variously been classified as a Unadorned Rock-wallaby, Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, and Black-flanked Rock-wallaby. Le Souef and others have asserted that it was a new species, and this has been affirmed by a 2001 paper in the Australian Journal of Zoology. It is sometimes called the Purple Kangaroo.

The purple coloration was thought by some skeptical scientists to be due to the animal rubbing against a dye, but the animal does in fact secrete the purple pigment. The pigment is known to wash off in the rain and fade away after death, causing some possible confusion with other rock-wallaby species.

[edit] Purple Kangaroo in popular culture

The Purple Kangaroo has become a popular Australian cultural mascot. Variations include:

A female purple kangaroo character in television commercials and print ads for Clairol's Aussie line of shampoos and hair products.
A band by the name of Purple Kangaroo.
A character on Blue's Clues.

[edit] References

^ Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 68. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.