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Red-bellied wallaby, Tasmanian pademelon - THYLOGALE BILLARDIERI Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The word "Pademelon": Most Australian animal names come from the languages of the Aborigines. The Latin name translates into "Billardiere's pouched weasel."
Location: Tasmania.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Dense, low scrub and tall grass.
Description: The pademelon is a comparatively short-tailed, small, kangaroolike marsupial with relatively small, rounded ears, and a hind foot only about 5" long. Its coat is long, thick, and soft; gray-brown in color on the back, yellow-orange underneath. The average length of its head and body is 24" and it weighs about 13 lbs.
Behavior: Closely related to rock wallabies, the small pademelons number four species which range from New Guinea through eastern Australia and into Tasmania. This gregarious red-bellied form is now extinct on the mainland of Australia, but lives in large colonies throughout much of Tasmania, where it has long been hunted for its fur. It inhabits damp areas with thick underbrush through which it makes extensive tunnel-like runways. The pademelon is active in twilight, foraging at dawn and dusk on grass, although it also eats leaves and plant shoots. It seems to depend on sound rather than sight for protection, as it thumps the ground with its foot (probably as an alarm signal) when it hears something approach.
Reproduction: The Tasmanian pademelon usually has one young at a time, with births at various times of the year. Delayed implantation is known in this species.
Go to the Marsupials Page to get a general discussion of these animals.
Or go to the Rock Wallaby to study another wallaby.
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