The small extent of seasonally snow-covered Australian mountains means that there has not been a great selective pressure on the mammalian fauna for adaptations to this environment. Only one large marsupial, the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus (Shaw, 1800)), is widespread above the winter snowline. In the past 20 years, with snow depth and duration declining, the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor (Desmarest, 1804)) has become more common above the winter snowline. The red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus (Desmarest, 1817)) is common in alpine Tasmania where seasonal snow cover is neither as deep nor as long-lasting as on the mainland, but has only been recorded regularly above the winter snowline in the mainland Snowy Mountains since 2011. This study examines morphological aspects of locomotion of these three herbivorous marsupials in snow. The wombat is the best adapted to snow, with quadrupedal gait and an expanded home range allowing it to locate and feed on the same plant groups as it does at lower elevation. Wallabies are poorly adapted to locomotion in snow, but the browsing swamp wallaby is able to maintain its dietary habit by feeding on exposed shrubs in deep snow, whereas the red-necked wallaby, which depends more on grazing, appears constrained to areas where snow is shallow.
Mapping the Distribution of Buried Glacier Ice – An Example From Lago Delle Locce, Monte Rosa, Italian Alps