Taxonomy: Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Marsupialia; Dasyuromorphia; Dasyuridae; Dasyurinae; Dasyurini; Dasyurus sp.
Six species: the Bronze quoll (D. spartacus); Eastern quoll (D. viverrinus); New Guinean quoll (D. albopunctatus); Norther quoll (D. hallucatus); Tiger or spotted quoll (D. maculatus); and the Western quoll or Chuditch (D. geoffroii).
Common Names: quolls, Dasyurus, hairy tail, tiger cats, native cats.
Localities: Native to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania mainly in rugged timber and forested areas as well as open valley land.
Description:
The quoll or native cat is a carnivorous marsupial of the genus Dasyurus. They were named “Dasyurus” after the term for “hairy tail” by Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. Captain Cook collected the quolls during his 1770 voyage to Australia and went with the Guugu Yimithirr peoples name for them which he interpreted as “je-quoll”, jaquol, or taquol. In the 1800’s, early settlers called them “tiger cats” or “native cats”, but in 1960, naturalist David Fleay pushed to revive “quoll” as their name. They are primarily noctural habitating their den during most of daytime. There are six species – four found in Australia, and two in New Guinea. Two others come from the fossil record in deposits from the Pleistocene and Pliocene in Queensland. Originally they were believed to have evolved in the Miocene, approximately 15 million years ago, diverging into the six current species about 4 million years ago. They vary in weight and size, found to range from 11 ounces to about 15 pounds. Adults range from 10-30 inches long with hairy tails 8-10 inches long. The usually have brown or black fur with pink noses and a long snout, found solitary, except during mating season in the winter. Females are known to give birth to upwards of 18 pups in a litter, though only about 6 survive as her 6 teats can’t handle that many. They do have a pouch for breeding season which opens to the tail (spotted quolls are an exception they have a true pouch). They have an average lifespan ranging from 2-5 years. The Eastern Quoll has nearly become extinct, with the only existing species found in Tasmania. They live in hollowed out logs or rocky dens and known to have communal defecating spots as a place to mark territory and conduct other social functions.
Predators:
Man, Urban development, poison baiting, and cane toads. Cane toads often shoot them with their venom or are eaten by them resulting in a poisonous death.
Diet:
Quolls feed on small lizards, birds, rabbits, bandicoots, possums, and insects.
Uses:
Unknown.
Culinary:
Unknown.
Medicinal:
Unknown.
Folklore and Magical Uses:
Unknown.
Written and researched by Thomas Baurley, Leaf McGowan, Technogypsie Research Services. November 25, 2011.
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