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Wallabies are members of the macropod family of marsupials, that is, the kangaroo family. The word 'macropod' means large foot. Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos.

Wallabies are found only in Australia and nearby islands like New Guinea.

One species of wallaby was the first Australian marsupial to be described by Europeans. This was the tammar wallaby on the Abrolhos Islands in 1629 which was observed by the survivors of the 'Batavia'.

The animal in the photo is called a rock wallaby because it lives near rocky parts of Australia. Its long, strong hind feet and powerful hind legs mean that it can bound easily over rocks and up steep rocky hills, sometimes up to 64 km per hour. The hind feet have tough pads on their soles so that they can get a good grip on the rocks.

All female wallabies have pouches. The joey is born only 30 days after mating. It is very immature and must do most of its developing inside the mother's pouch. Unborn human babies have a cord that joins them to their mother's placenta. When the baby is born, the cord is cut and becomes a belly button. Because wallabies don't have that cord, they don't have a belly button and so must do most of their developing after birth.

Rock wallabies grow to a height of 50 to 65 centimetres and a weight of about 7 kilograms. They are nocturnal and move down from the rocks in the late afternoon to feed on grasses, leaves, bark and roots.

Rock wallabies are able to begin breeding at about 18 months old. They breed at any time of year, especially if there is a good supply of food available. There is usually only one joey produced, though twin joeys sometimes occur.

Rock wallabies are very interesting animals.