The red-legged pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica ) 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 red-legged pademelon is usually solitary but may group together when feeding. It is found mostly in rainforests, where it is rarely seen, but it is not considered threatened. In New South Wales, however, it is considered to be vulnerable. It feeds on fallen fruit, leaves and grasses. It weighs 2.5 to 7 kg and is 38–58 cm long with a 30–47 cm tail.
There are four subspecies of the red-legged pademelon:
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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FrugivoreA frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. Approx...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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JumpingJumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
Among animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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Generally solitaryGenerally solitary animals are those animals that spend their time separately but will gather at foraging areas or sleep in the same location or sh...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withPademelons are quite small wallabies with short tails. The compact body of this animal allows it to move through the dense rainforest understorey with incredible agility. The unique taxonomic position of these animals suggests that they probably have been the ancestors of Tree-kangaroos and Rock-wallabies a few million years ago. The Red-legged pademelon is a motley wallaby, exhibiting grey upper body, whitish underbelly as well as rufous red legs and face with a white colored band on the cheeks.
Red-legged pademelons are endemic to Australia and New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea). In New Guinea, these animals are found throughout the southern Fly River area, where they inhabit lowland rainforests and low mixed savanna thickets near swamps. The Australian population of this species occupies the area between the tip of Cape York to the southern portion of Tamworth. Red-legged pademelons also occur in rainforests, wet sclerophyll forests, and dry vine scrub forests on the eastern coast of Australia. Southern populations of pademelon live almost exclusively at the forest edge, while northern populations may also occur in inner parts of the forest.
Red-legged pademelons are active during the daytime hours, while period of least activity is midnight as well as midday to early afternoon. They are generally solitary and tend to feed alone, but are known to form loose groups. During the night, they feed in these groups on the edge of the forest. They also socialize during the winter when sunbathing, gathering together in order to conserve heat. They usually use recesses in the ground as resting and sleeping spots. Feeding groups have a dominant pademelon, which controls the feeding process and makes sure that individuals feed at an equal distance from each other (typically 30-50 meters). When a feeding group is threatened, they flee to their shelters through special paths, which they make beforehand in order to easily escape predators.
Red-legged pademelons are herbivores (folivores and frugivore), they mainly consume fruits and fallen leaves, complementing their diet with bark, fresh leaves, fungus and cicadas.
Red-legged pademelons are polygynous animals. Males fight to defend their mating rights. During these confrontations, rivals stand upright on their hind legs and hold their heads back in order to protect their eyes. Each one tries to swing its claws at the opponent and knock it down, after which the winner will kick its rival in the abdomen. Red-legged pademelons breed year-round. After a gestation period of 28 to 30 days, a single joey is born. At 22 - 26 weeks old, young begin to come out of the pouch, leaving it permanently by 26–28 weeks. Meanwhile, they still feed upon maternal milk. The mother continues to protect her offspring, teaching them foraging skills and. Then, about 66 days after they leave the pouch, young pademelons start eating food. Sexual maturity is reached at 48 weeks old in females and by 66 weeks old - in males.
Presently, there are no notable threats to the population of this species. However, pademelons in New Guinea are hunted for their meat, while the Australian population of these animals may suffer from dog attacks and fragmentation of their forest habitat.
According to IUCN, the Ref-legged pademelon is locally common and widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC), although its numbers are decreasing.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...