If you’ve never heard of the pademelon, you are not alone. The medium-sized marsupial hopped right under our radar as well. We like to think we’re fairly species-savvy, so when we came across this featured creature courtesy of First Dog on the Moon, initially we thought, well, he’s just making that one up because he’s a cartoon dog, and that’s what they do. As it turns out, while the pademelon (Thylogale) may sound like some newfangled, furry fruit hybrid, it’s actually a long-footed, short-forelimbed, pouched member of the Macropodidae family native to the dense coastal rainforests of Australia and New Guinea.

One of approximately 250 species of Australian marsupials, the pademelon closely resembles its larger cousins, the kangaroo, and wallaby and is also related to quokkas, tree kangaroos, and wallaroos. There are seven distinct pademelon species, ranging in size from about 17 to 20 inches and weighing between 8 and 26 pounds, with grey to dark brown coloration and varied reddish markings. Pademelons are primarily nocturnal herbivores preferring to rest and forage in the safety of dense forest undergrowth during the day, emerging in the evening to feed on leaves, shoots, berries, and ferns, typically not straying far from the forest’s edge.

In contrast to egg-laying mammals (monotremes) like the platypus and spiny anteater, or placental mammals (eutherians) like dingoes and bats which give birth to well-developed offspring, marsupial mammals complete their development in a special maternal pouch following a short gestation period. After just thirty days in the womb, pademelon young are born blind and hairless but with functional forelimbs and mouth, which enable them to crawl into the pouch and attach to the mother to obtain milk. Newborn pademelons, called joeys like their kangaroo cousins, remain inside the pouch for approximately 200 days before being weaned at six to eight months and officially entering the world as independent hoppers.

So why pouches? While some theories suggest that both egg-laying and pouch-percolating mammals represent progressive steps in the evolution toward the eutherian stage of producing well-developed young, researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) offer an alternative explanation: that the marsupial’s unique reproductive ability is not an evolutionary step but instead an advantageous adaptation in response to uncertain and adverse environmental conditions, which has helped them to adjust to the climate of the driest inhabited continent in the world. The ANU scientists believe that the marsupial pouch may play a critical role in the survival of the species by providing developing young with an anti-bacterial, temperature-controlled environment, as well as protection from predators while their mothers forage for food.

Although the pouched ones are more plentiful in Australia than in any other place on the planet and the continent’s dominant species, many marsupials are on the decline due to habitat loss, and impacts of global heating, including bushfires. Changes in the distribution of food, water, and shelter in Australia’s fifteen biodiversity hotspots as a result of reduced rainfall and increased drought frequency will continue to threaten their survival. Currently, four of seven species of pademelon are listed as endangered or vulnerable, as are other little known marsupials including the bilby, bettong, and potoroo.

If you would like to read a special WWF Earth Hour report on  how a warming world will affect unique Australian wildlife like the pademelon, you can check it out here.