Phascogale

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Phascogale
Brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Marsupialia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Subfamily: Dasyurinae
Tribe: Phascogalini
Genus: Phascogale
Temminck, 1824
Type species
Didelphis penicillata
Shaw, 1800
(= Vivera tapoatafa, F. Meyer
, 1793
Species

See text

The phascogales (members of the eponymous

Near Threatened or Vulnerable by the IUCN
.

Phylogeny

The following is a phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences:[3]

Dasyuromorphia

Thylacinus (thylacine)

Myrmecobius (numbat)

Sminthopsis (dunnarts)

Phascogale (wambengers)

Dasyurus (quolls)

Species

Captive P. calura

The genus consists of the following three species:

Image Scientific name Distribution
Brush-tailed phascogalePhascogale tapoatafa southeast Australia from South Australia to mid-coastal Queensland, Western Australia
Red-tailed phascogalePhascogale calura south-western Western Australia
Northern brush-tailed phascogalePhascogale pirata northern Australia.

Life cycle

Mating generally happens between May and July. All males die soon after mating. Females give birth to about 6 young ones about 30 days after mating. Phascogales do not have the true pouch that is found in most other marsupials [1][2]. Instead, they form temporary folds of skin - sometimes called a "pseudo-pouch" [3] around the mammary glands during pregnancy. Young stay in this pseudo-pouch area, nursing for about 7 weeks before being moved to a nest where they stay until they are weaned at about 20 weeks of age. Females live for about 3 years, and generally produce one litter.

References

  1. ^ A Hollow Victory - The Morabool News
  2. ^ "Borrowings from Australian Aboriginal Languages". Australian National University. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  3. PMID 19139089
    .

External links

  • Brush-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [4]. Also: [5]
  • Red-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [6]. Also: [7]