Pademelon [1] | |
---|---|
Tasmanian pademelon, Thylogale billardierii | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
Order: | Diprotodontia |
Family: | Macropodidae |
Subfamily: | Macropodinae |
Genus: | Thylogale J. E. Gray, 1837 |
Type species | |
Halmaturus (Thylogale) eugenii | |
Species | |
7, see text |
Pademelons are small marsupials in the genus Thylogale, found in Australia and Aru, Kai plus New Guinea islands. They are some of the smallest members of the macropod family, which includes the similar-looking but larger kangaroos and wallabies. Pademelons are distinguished by their small size and their short, thick, and sparsely-haired tails. Like other marsupials, they carry their young in a pouch.
The word "pademelon" comes from the word badimaliyan in Dharug, an Australian Aboriginal language spoken near what is now Port Jackson, New South Wales. [2] The scientific name Thylogale uses the Greek words for "pouch" and "weasel." [3]
Along with the rock-wallabies and the hare-wallabies, the pademelons are among the smallest members of the macropod family. Mature male pademelons are larger than females, with an average weight of about 7 kg and height of 60 cm. Mature females weigh around 3.8 kg. [4]
There are seven recognised species within genus Thylogale: [5]
Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
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Tasmanian pademelon or red-bellied pademelon, Thylogale billardierii | ||
Brown's pademelon, Thylogale browni | ||
Dusky pademelon, Thylogale brunii | ||
Calaby's pademelon, Thylogale calabyi | ||
Mountain pademelon, Thylogale lanatus | ||
Red-legged pademelon, Thylogale stigmatica | ||
Red-necked pademelon, Thylogale thetis | ||
The red-legged pademelon can be found in the coastal regions of Queensland and New South Wales, and in south-central New Guinea. In some areas, its range has been drastically reduced.
The red-bellied or Tasmanian pademelon is abundant in Tasmania, although it was once found throughout the southeastern parts of mainland Australia. [6]
The dusky pademelon lives in New Guinea and surrounding islands. It was previously called the Aru Islands wallaby. Before that, it was called the "philander" ("friend of man"), which is the name it bears in the second volume of Cornelis de Bruijn's Travels, originally published in 1711. The Latin name of this species is called after De Bruijn. [7] [8]
The natural habitat of the pademelon is in thick scrubland or dense forested undergrowth. It also makes tunnels through long grasses and bushes in swampy country.[ citation needed ]
Pademelon meat used to be considered valuable and was eaten by settlers and indigenous Australians. [9] [10]
Aside from being killed for their meat and soft fur, their numbers have been reduced by the introduction of non-native predators such as cats in Australia, dogs, and red foxes. The rapid increase in Australia's rabbit population has also caused problems as rabbits graze on the same grasses, making less available for the pademelons. Clearing of land for urbanisation has pushed the larger wallabies and kangaroos onto land that previously was occupied by pademelons with little competition. [11]
Tasmanian pademelons were an important part of the diet of the now-extinct thylacine, and they are still preyed on by quolls, Tasmanian devils, and wedge-tailed eagles. Despite these predators, Tasmania and its outlying smaller islands have large numbers of pademelons and every year many are culled to keep their numbers sustainable. [12]
Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of the defining features of marsupials is their unique reproductive strategy, where the young are born in a relatively undeveloped state and then nurtured within a pouch on their mother's abdomen.
A wallaby is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and sometimes the same genus, but kangaroos are specifically categorised into the four largest species of the family. The term "wallaby" is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or a wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise.
Tree-kangaroos are marsupials of the genus Dendrolagus, adapted for arboreal locomotion. They inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and far northeastern Queensland, Australia along with some of the islands in the region. All tree-kangaroos are considered threatened due to hunting and habitat destruction. They are the only true arboreal macropods.
Macropodidae is a family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. These genera are allied to the suborder Macropodiformes, containing other macropods, and are native to the Australian continent, New Guinea and nearby islands.
The eastern grey kangaroo is a marsupial found in the eastern third of Australia, with a population of several million. It is also known as the great grey kangaroo and the forester kangaroo. Although a big eastern grey male can typically weigh up to 69 kg (152 lb) and have a length of well over 2 m, the scientific name, Macropus giganteus, is misleading: the red kangaroo of the semi-arid inland is larger, weighing up to 90 kg (200 lb).
The parma wallaby is a small marsupial macropod mammal native to forests and densely-vegetated areas of northeastern New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Queensland. There is also an introduced population found in and around Rodney District, just north of Auckland, New Zealand. About the size of a stout cat, it lives mainly under thick plant cover, and is only active at night when it emerges to feed on grasses and small plants. It is the smallest of the wallabies and carries its young in a pouch, as with other marsupials. Shy and elusive, it was believed extinct until its rediscovery in the 1960s.
The red-necked wallaby or Bennett's wallaby is a medium-sized macropod marsupial (wallaby), common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Red-necked wallabies have been introduced to several other countries, including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, France and Germany.
The tammar wallaby, also known as the dama wallaby or darma wallaby, is a small macropod native to South and Western Australia. Though its geographical range has been severely reduced since European colonisation, the tammar wallaby remains common within its reduced range and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It has been introduced to New Zealand and reintroduced to some areas of Australia where it had been previously extirpated. Skull variations differentiate between tammar wallabies from Western Australia, Kangaroo Island, and mainland South Australia, making them distinct population groups.
The red-necked pademelon is a forest-dwelling marsupial living in the eastern coastal region of Australia between extreme south-east Queensland and central eastern New South Wales.
The swamp wallaby is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the black wallaby, with other names including black-tailed wallaby, fern wallaby, black pademelon, stinker, and black stinker on account of its characteristic swampy odour.
The Tasmanian pademelon, also known as the rufous-bellied pademelon or red-bellied pademelon, is the sole species of pademelon found in Tasmania, and was formerly found throughout southeastern Australia. This pademelon has developed heavier and bushier fur than its northern relatives, which inhabit northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The golden-mantled tree-kangaroo is a critically endangered, furry, bear-like mammal found only in mountain rain forests on the island of New Guinea. Like other tree-kangaroos, it lives in trees and feeds on plant matter. It belongs to the macropod family (Macropodidae) with kangaroos, and carries its young in a pouch like other marsupials. The range is restricted to two small mountain areas in the north and it is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.
Scrub wallaby often refers to the Black-striped wallaby (Macropus dorsalis).
The red-legged pademelon is a species of small macropod found on the northeastern coast of Australia and in New Guinea. In Australia it has a scattered distribution from the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland to around Tamworth in New South Wales. In New Guinea it is found in south central lowlands.
The dusky pademelon or dusky wallaby is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is found in the Aru and Kai islands and the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion of New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Calaby's pademelon, also known as the alpine wallaby, is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
Klossiella is a genus of parasitic alveolates of the phylum Apicomplexa. Species in this genus infect the renal tract of mammals and intestinal tract of snakes.
The Vogelkop–Aru lowland rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Indonesia. The ecoregion covers the peninsular lowlands of western New Guinea, along with the Aru Islands and other nearby islands.