| Quolls[1] | |
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| Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Dasyurus É. Geoffroy, 1796
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| Type species | |
| Dasyurus viverrinus Anon., 1791
(= Didelphis viverrina Shaw, 1800) | |
| Species | |
General Info
editQuolls or native cats (genus Dasyurus) are carnivorous marsupials, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Adults are between 25 and 75 centimetres (30 in) long, with hairy tails about 20 to 35 centimetres (14 in) long. Females have six to eight nipples and develop a pouch—which opens towards the tail—only during the breeding season, when they are rearing young. Quolls live both in forests and in open valley land. Though primarily ground-dwelling, they have developed secondary arboreal characteristics. They do not have prehensile tails, but do have ridges on the pads of their feet,to walk the rough ground.[2] Their molars and canines are strongly developed.
Species
editThere are four species of quoll in Australia. Since 1770, all Australian quolls have declined in number due to habitat loss because of urbanization, and also because new animals such as foxes have been introduced that are large predators to the quoll. Quolls are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in their dens. Mating occurs during the winter season, and the gestation period is 21 days. Quolls reach maturity at one year old and their life spans from two to five years. [3]
Diet
editQuoll diets are dominated by medium-sized mammals such as brush-tailed possums, rabbits and hares. The exact mix is adaptable based on reduced availability after bushfires, and can include carrion or bandicoots. [4] They are mostly carnivorous and the larger species eat birds, reptiles and small mammals such as rabbits, bandicoots, echidnas, and possums. The smaller quolls primarily eat insects, birds, frogs, lizards and fruit, although every variety of quolls have been known to eat carrion when food is scarce.
Studies
editQuolls are threatened by toxic cane toads, but a University of Sydney project revealed in 2010 is teaching them to avoid eating the invasive amphibians.[5]
The tribe Dasyurini to which quolls belong also includes the Tasmanian devil, antechinuses, the Kowari, and mulgaras.[1]
Taxonomy
editWithin the genus Dasyurus, the following species exist:[1]
- New Guinean Quoll, Dasyurus albopunctatus, New Guinea
- Western Quoll or Chuditch, Dasyurus geoffroii, western Australia
- Northern Quoll, Dasyurus hallucatus, northern Australia
- Tiger Quoll or Spotted Quoll, Dasyurus maculatus, eastern Australia
- Bronze Quoll, Dasyurus spartacus, New Guinea
- Eastern Quoll, Dasyurus viverrinus, Tasmania (formerly mainland eastern Australia)
There is at least one fossil species from the Pliocene, that is D. dunmalli, described by Bartholomai in 1971.[6] The name Dasyurus means "hairy-tail",[7] and was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. The first species described, the Tiger Quoll, was originally placed in the American opossum genus Didelphis.
References
edit- ^ a b c Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ McCay, George (1999). Mammals. Fog City Press.
- ^ "Quolls of Australia". Government of Australia. Friday, June 3rd, 2011. Retrieved October 6th, 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ Dawson, J. P.; Claridge, A. W.; Triggs, B.; Paull, D. J. (2007). "Diet of a native carnivore, the spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), before and after an intense wildfire". Wildlife Research. 34 (5): 342. doi:10.1071/WR05101.
- ^ "Taste training for northern quolls". Australian Geographic. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
- ^ http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/synapsida/metatheria/notometatheria/dasyuromorphia/dasyurinae.html Mikkos taxonomy
- ^ Serena, M.; Soderquist, T. (1995). "Western Quoll". In Strahan, Ronald (ed.). The Mammals of Australia. Reed Books. pp. 62–64.
