The phascogales (members of the eponymous genus Phascogale), also known as wambengers or mousesacks, are carnivorous Australian marsupials of the family Dasyuridae. There are three species: the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), the red-tailed phascogale (P. calura), and the northern brush-tailed phascogale (P. pirata). As with a number of dasyurid species, the males live for only one year, dying after a period of frenzied mating. The name wambenger comes from the Nyungar language. The term Phascogale was coined in 1824 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in reference to the brush-tailed phascogale, and means "pouched weasel". All three species are listed as either Near Threatened or Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Phylogeny
The following is a phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences:
Species
thumb|right|Captive P. calura
The genus consists of the following three species:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Distribution
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|120px || Brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale tapoatafa || southeast Australia from South Australia to mid-coastal Queensland, Western Australia
|-
|120px || Red-tailed phascogale – Phascogale calura||south-western Western Australia
|-
| || Northern brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale 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 [https://web.archive.org/web/20140109052904/http://www.arkive.org/brush-tailed-phascogale/phascogale-tapoatafa/][http://www.marsupialsociety.org.au/keeping-marsupials-dasyurids.html]. Instead, they form temporary folds of skin - sometimes called a "pseudo-pouch" [http://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/24/3775.full.pdf] 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
External links
- Brush-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170410095618/https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/animals/animal_profiles/brush-tailed-phascogale_2012.pdf]. Also: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140109052904/http://www.arkive.org/brush-tailed-phascogale/phascogale-tapoatafa/]
- Red-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [https://web.archive.org/web/20170321170643/https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/plants-animals/animals/animal_profiles/red-tailed-phascogale_2012.pdf]. Also: [https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/red-tailed-phascogale?gclid=Cj0KEQjw-73GBRCC7KODl9zToJMBEiQAj1Jgfx64K-ytZe-wFXjwamqwLGhVOoPnro-XdWQOkERHxisaAn5l8P8HAQ]