Quoll Quoll

Quoll - Definition and Overview

Quolls
Conservation status: Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Subclass:Marsupialia
Order:Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Dasyurus

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.

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
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