D. hageni is light brown or fuscous, with a narrow white dorsal stripe. In D. atrata the upper parts are black or blackish brown and the underparts are blackish brown. The tail is evenly haired, except for a variable portion of the terminal half, which is naked. The hind limbs and feet are small, while the front limbs are relatively well developed. These animals do not appear to be as adapted for hopping as most other wallabies.
Females have four mammae and a well-developed pouch that opens forward.
These wallabies generally inhabit rainforest, with D. vanheurni and D. macleayi mainly in mountainous areas and D. veterum and D. hageni in lowlands. D. atrata, of Goodenough Island, lives in oak forest at medium elevations in the mountains but may come down to sea level. These wallabies are presumed to be mainly nocturnal, but there is some evidence that they move about in daytime in dense forest. The diet consists of roots, leaves, grasses, and fruit. Natives on Goodenough Island regard D. atrata as a valuable food animal.