The Rufous-bellied Pademelon is a small Tasmanian macropod with a short tail and legs and a reddish-brown belly. It shelters in dense cover by day and feeds near forest edges at night.
It has a stocky body, relatively short tail and legs, dark to grey-brown upperparts and a reddish-brown belly.
Tasmanian pademelons grow at different rates while in the pouch and after leaving it. In 2011, researchers developed a model that joins these two phases into one smooth growth curve. It combines a logistic curve for pouch growth with a second function for later growth, allowing body measurements to be related to age.
The model showed that males grew faster and larger than females. Knowing an animal's age helps researchers describe life history and compare survival or reproduction among age groups. The authors presented the method as a practical way to estimate ages and collect age-specific vital rates for wild pademelons.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Researchers developed a continuous two-phase growth model for Tasmanian pademelons. It showed that males grew faster and larger than females. Relating body measurements to age can help field studies collect age-specific life-history information, including vital rates used to describe wildlife populations. The authors presented the model as a practical tool for ageing wild pademelons and supporting wildlife-management research.