Pademelons

Taxonomy

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Family	Macropodidae	kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, quokka, pademelons
Genus	Thylogale	pouched weasel 3 species in Australia 4th species only in New Guinea
Common Name	pademelon	thought to be a corruption of an Aboriginal word for the Sydney area

GENUS Thylogale

SPECIES	Common name (P=pademelon)	Other common names
stigmatica	Red-legged P	Pademelon, Northern Red-legged Pademelon
thetis	Red-necked P	Pademelon Wallaby
billardierii	Red-bellied P	Tasmanian Pademelon, Rufous Wallaby, Red-bellied Wallaby

Characteristics

General

• medium-sized wallabies
• males grow to about 7kg (15lbs); twice the size of females but are about the same height; males are more heavily muscled

Lifestyle

• generally solitary but may gather at feeding sites or basking spots in winter
• have established runways into forest from cleared areas where they forage
• home range of 5-6 hectares
• active in late afternoon through to dawn; rest during the day in shallow depressions

Feeding

• stay close to forest edge when foraging at night
• T. stigmatica - fallen leaves, fresh leaves, berries (Moreton Bay Fig and Burdekin Plum), also ferns, orchids, grasses
• T. billardierii , T.thetis - grasses, herbs, fresh leaves

Reproduction

• marsupials
• breed throughout the year
• sexually mature at 12-18 months
• T. billardierii - gestation 30 days; in pouch for 200 days

Habitat

• rainforest, dense eucalypt forest
• tend to live on the edge of forest

Distribution

• eastern Australia; also New Guinea

Predators

• dingoes, foxes

Status

• all species are fairly common within their ranges

Where to see Pademelons

Red-bellied Pademelon T. billardierii	Australia Healesville Sanctuary, Healesville, VIC Germany Zoologischer Garten Augsburg GmbH, Augsburg
Red-legged Pademelon T. stigmatica	Australia Melbourne Zoo, Parkville, VIC
Red-necked Pademelon T. thetis	Australia Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, NSW Australia Taronga Zoo, Mosman, NSW

References - books

• Australia's Amazing Wildlife, 1985. Bay Books, Kensington NSW.
• Encyclopedia of Australian Wildlife, Reader’s Digest Australia Pty Ltd, 1997. Reader’s Digest (Australia) Pty Ltd, Surrey Hills.
• Complete Book Of Australian Mammals, R Strahan (ed), 1983. Angus & Robertson Publishers, London.
• Encyclopedia of Australian Mammals CD, 1997. Webster Publishing Pty Ltd.