AY Honors/Marsupials/Answer Key
Quolls (genus Dasyurus) are carnivorous marsupials, native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Adults are between 25 and 75 cm long, with hairy tails about 20-35 cm 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. Their molars and canines are strongly developed.
The eastern quoll (or native cat, as it is sometimes called) has two color phases--ginger-brown or black, both with white spots on the body.
Eastern quolls once occured on mainland Australia, with the last sighting occuring in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse in the early 1960s. They are now considered extinct on the mainland, although some recent sightings in the New England region of northern New South Wales suggest that the species may still survive.
The species, fortunately, is widespread and locally common in Tasmania. It is found in a variety of habitats including rainforest, healthland, alpine areas, and scrub. However, it seems to prefer dry grassland and forest mosaics which are bounded by agricultural land, particularly where pasture grubs are common.
Eastern quolls can be seen in all but the Asbestos Range National Park and the Arthur River area. They are common in Mount Field National Park.
Male eastern quolls are about the size of a small domestic cat averaging 6 decimeters in length and 1.3 kilograms in weight; females are slightly smaller.
Taxonomy
Within the genus Dasyurus, the following species exist:
- Dasyurus albopunctatus — New Guinean Quoll, New Guinea
- Dasyurus geoffroii — Chuditch or Western Quoll, western Australia
- Dasyurus hallucatus — Northern Quoll, northern Australia
- Dasyurus maculatus — Spotted Quoll (Tiger Quoll), eastern Australia
- Dasyurus spartacus — Bronze Quoll, New Guinea
- Dasyurus viverrinus — Eastern Quoll, Tasmania
