Quolls (; genus Dasyurus) are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that quolls evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around four million years ago. The six species vary in weight and size, from to . They have brown or black fur and pink noses.
Introduction
Quoll
Quoll | Introduction
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Quolls (; genus Dasyurus) are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that quolls evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around four million years ago. The six species vary in weight and size, from to . They have brown or black fur and pink noses.
Quoll | Introduction
Quolls are carnivorous marsupials. They are primarily nocturnal, sleeping in hollowed-out logs or rocky dens and coming out to hunt during the night, though on rare occasions they can be seen looking for prey during the day. They are mostly ground-dwelling, but it is not uncommon to see a quoll climbing a tree. Quolls mark their territory several kilometres away from their dens. A male's territory often overlaps many females' territories, and male and female quolls only meet for mating. Quolls have communal toilet areas, usually on an outcropping used for marking territory and social functions. These communal latrines may have up to 100 droppings in them.
Quoll | Behaviour
The bronze quoll ("Dasyurus spartacus") is a species of quoll found only in the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands of New Guinea and West Papua. It was discovered in the early 1970s when five specimens were collected, but only described in 1987 when Dr. Stephen Van Dyck of the Queensland Museum examined them and recognised their distinctness. there are twelve public museum specimens, 8 from traps and 4 from local hunters. It is the largest surviving marsupial carnivore of New Guinea. Very little is known of it; it was previously thought to be an outlying population of the western quoll ("Dasyurus geoffroii").
Bronze quoll | Introduction
The New Guinean quoll belongs to Dasyuridae, a family of carnivorous marsupials, which includes other species of quolls, the extinct thylacine, the Tasmanian devil, and many smaller carnivores. It is one of six extant species of quolls, four of which are found in only in Australia and two of which are restricted to New Guinea (the bronze quoll is the other New Guinean species). Both the quolls found in New Guinea seem to be most closely related to the Australian western quoll.
New Guinean quoll | Taxonomy
The tiger quoll ("Dasyurus maculatus"), also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus "Dasyurus" native to Australia. With males and females weighing around 3.5 and 1.8 kg, respectively, it is the world's second largest extant carnivorous marsupial, behind the Tasmanian devil. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate is found in wet forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, and a northern subspecies, "D. m. gracilis", is found in a small area of northern Queensland and is endangered.
Tiger quoll | Introduction
The eastern quoll ("Dasyurus viverrinus"), formerly known as the eastern native cat, is a medium-sized carnivorous dasyurid marsupial native to Australia. They are widespread and even locally common in Tasmania. They have been considered extinct on the mainland since the 1960s, however have been reintroduced back into fenced sanctuaries in 2016, and more recently into the wild in March 2018. It is one of six extant species of quolls.
Eastern quoll | Introduction
The New Guinean quoll ("Dasyurus albopunctatus"), also known as the New Guinea quoll or New Guinea native cat, is a carnivorous marsupial mammal native to New Guinea. It is the second-largest surviving marsupial carnivore of New Guinea.
New Guinean quoll | Introduction
In the 1960s, noted naturalist David Fleay pushed for the revival of the term "quoll" to replace the then-current vernacular names that he felt were misleading. They are very well known animals in Australia. Four species have been recovered from Pleistocene cave deposits from Mount Etna Caves National Park near Rockhampton in central Queensland. Remains of the tiger quoll and the northern quoll, and a species either identical or very similar to the eastern quoll, as well as a prehistoric species as yet undescribed, all lived in what was a rainforest climate. The northern quoll is still found in the region.
Quoll | Taxonomy
However, they prefer dry grassland and forest mosaics, bounded by agricultural land, particularly where pasture grubs are common.
Eastern quoll | Distribution and habitat
The eastern quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae, which includes most carnivorous marsupials. Its species name, "viverrinus", indicates it is "ferret-like". There are no recognised subspecies.
Eastern quoll | Taxonomy
The fossil species "D. dunmalli", described by Bartholomai in 1971, is the oldest species recovered to date. Its remains were found in Pliocene deposits near Chinchilla in southeastern Queensland. Known only from a lower jaw and some teeth, it was a relative of the tiger quoll.
Quoll | Taxonomy
The western quoll ("Dasyurus geoffroii") is Western Australia's largest endemic mammalian carnivore. One of the many marsupial mammals native to Australia, it is also known as the chuditch. The species is currently classed as near-threatened.
Western quoll | Introduction
Quolls are indigenous to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. The six species were once widely distributed across the three land masses, but are now restricted to only a few areas. Although primarily ground-dwelling, the genus has developed secondary arboreal characteristics. Each species of quoll lives in distinct geographical areas. The tiger quoll and eastern quoll are exclusively mesic zone species, that is they inhabit moister habitats. The western quoll also inhabits mesic habitat, but has adapted to arid regions across inland Australia, while the northern quoll inhabits tropical habitat of high rainfall.
Quoll | Distribution and habitat
The tiger quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae, which includes most carnivorous marsupial mammals. This quoll was first described in 1792 by Robert Kerr, the Scottish writer and naturalist, who placed it in the genus "Didelphis", which includes several species of American opossum. The species name, "maculatus", indicates this species is spotted. Two subspecies are recognised:
Tiger quoll | Taxonomy
Once found across 70% of the Australian continent, the western quoll is now confined to south-western corner of Western Australia. This perhaps was due to European settlement in the late 1780s as their range dramatically declined after this event. It currently inhabits wet and dry sclerophyll forests, including contiguous Jarrah Forest and mallee. These areas consist of open forest, low open forest, woodland, and open shrub. On occasion they are recorded in the WA Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions, and by the 1930s disappeared completely from Swan Coastal Plain and surrounds. As a result of its carnivorous feeding habits, the western quoll has a large home range.
Western quoll | Habitat
The northern quoll ("Dasyurus hallucatus"), also known as the northern native cat, the North Australian native cat, the satanellus or the njanmak in the indigenous Mayali language and djabo" in Kunwinjku, is a carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. Kunwinjku people of Western Arnhem Land regard djabo as "good tucker". The hair is singed, the gut is removed (but not the heart or liver) and the cavity packed with bush herbs. It is roasted on hot rocks in a hole.
Northern quoll | Introduction
Conservation efforts include breeding programs in captivity, one of which is taking place in Tasmania with support from Rewilding Australia and Conjour.
Quoll | Introduction
There are four species of quoll, or "native cat", all of which are threatened species. The eastern quoll for example is believed to have been extinct on the mainland since the 1960s, though conservation efforts are under way to reintroduce the secretive species to the mainland. The remainder of the Dasyuridae are referred to as "marsupial mice"; most weigh less than 100 g. There are two species of marsupial mole—order Notoryctemorphia—that inhabit the deserts of Western Australia. These rare, blind and earless carnivorous creatures spend most of their time underground; little is known about them. The bandicoots and bilbies—order Peramelemorphia—are marsupial omnivores.
Fauna of Australia | Monotremes and marsupials
The eastern quoll was formerly found across much of southeastern mainland Australia, from the eastern coasts of South Australia, through most of Victoria, to the mid-north coast of New South Wales. The species was formerly abundant around Adelaide, particularly the Adelaide Hills, with a 1923 newspaper article noting its rapid decline and presumed extinction in the area during the preceding ten years. It likely became functionally extinct in the early 1960s on mainland Australia, but remains widespread in Tasmania, and is also found today on Bruny Island. Within Tasmania, eastern quolls inhabit rainforest, heathland, alpine areas, and scrub below .
Eastern quoll | Distribution and habitat
Quolls are mostly solitary creatures, limiting contact with other quolls to mating or other social activities.
Quoll | Behaviour
The northern quoll occurs from the Pilbara region of Western Australia across the Northern Territory to south east Queensland. Their historical range extended uninterrupted from S.E Queensland to the Kimberleys in Western Australia. There are several disjunct populations. This quoll species is most abundant in rocky ranges and open eucalypt forest.
Northern quoll | Range and habitat
It became extinct on the mainland some 600 years ago and is now found only in Tasmania. There are four species of quoll, or native cat, all of which are threatened species. The remainder of the Dasyuridae are referred to as "marsupial mice"; most weigh less than . There are two species of marsupial mole — order Notoryctemorphia — that inhabit the deserts of Western Australia. These rare, blind, earless carnivores spend most of their time underground; little is known about them.
Mammals of Australia | Monotremes and marsupials
Quolls feed on a large range of prey, including birds, rats, other marsupials, small reptiles, and insects. They are reported to feed on prey larger than themselves. They are good climbers, but also spend time on the forest floor. Although nocturnal, they spend the daylight hours basking in the sun. They nest in rocky banks, hollow logs, or small caves. In captivity, the longest recorded survival is three years, but their lifespan in the wild is unknown.
New Guinean quoll | Behaviour and diet
The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 69 extant species divided into 21 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', despite the fact that most members of the family are insectivores.
Dasyuridae | Introduction
Quolls are mostly carnivorous. The smaller quolls primarily eat insects, birds, frogs, lizards and fruit; the larger species eat birds, reptiles, and mammals, including echidnas and possums. The tiger quoll's diet is dominated by mammals such as brushtail possums, rabbits and hares. The exact mix is variable depending on the availability of prey after bushfires, and can include carrion or bandicoots when food is scarce. The other species of quoll have also been known to eat carrion. The paws and vibrissae of quolls allow them to reach into small burrows to find prey. Quolls hunt by stalking. Depending on the size of its prey, a quoll may leap or pounce on it.
Quoll | Diet
They are largely solitary, but come together for a few social interactions such as mating which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 pups, of which only six survive because she only has six teats with which to feed them. Quolls eat smaller mammals, small birds, lizards, and insects. Their natural lifespan is between two and five years. All species have drastically declined in numbers since Australasia was colonised by Europeans, with one species, the eastern quoll, becoming extinct on the Australian mainland, now found only in Tasmania. Major threats to their survival include the cane toad, predators such as feral cats and foxes, urban development, and poison baiting.
Quoll | Introduction
"Joculusium muizoni" is a fossil species of dasyuromorph, an order of marsupials represented in the modern Australian fauna by the quolls (Dasyuridae), Tasmanian devil and recently extinct thylacine (Thylacinidae). When discovered, the specimen exhibited the least derived characteristics of the known species of the order that was found in dasyurid and thylacinid families. The only specimen is a jaw bone of a carnivore that probably ate smaller vertebrate species or insects.
Joculusium | Description
Reintroduced populations in South Australia have been recorded preying on rabbits and burrowing bettongs.
Western quoll | Behaviour
The quokka, also known as the short-tailed scrub wallaby () ("Setonix brachyurus"), the only member of the genus Setonix, is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in the macropod family (such as kangaroos and wallabies), the quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal. Quokkas are found on some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, particularly Rottnest Island, just off Perth, and also Bald Island near Albany, and in isolated, scattered populations in forest and coastal heath between Perth and Albany. A small colony exists at the eastern limit of their range in a protected area of Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, where they co-exist with the critically endangered Gilbert's potoroo.
Quokka | Introduction
A solitary, mostly terrestrial nocturnal predator, the western quoll is most active around dusk (crepuscular) when it hunts. It moves swiftly on the ground, climbs efficiently, and may dig or occupy existing burrows. During the day it seeks refuge in hollow logs or earth burrows as dens, and saves energy by lowering its body temperature in its sleep. The western quoll is at the top of the food chain, and depends on resource abundance and a healthy ecosystem. Being a carnivore, the western quoll feeds on large invertebrates and any small animal it can. This includes lizards, birds, frogs, spiders, insects, and small mammals; the largest it will eat is the size of a bandicoot or parrot.
Western quoll | Behaviour
The tiger quoll is found in eastern Australia where more than 600 mm of rain falls per year. Historically, the quoll was present throughout southeastern Queensland, through eastern New South Wales, Victoria, southeastern South Australia, and Tasmania. European settlement has severely impacted and fragmented the quoll's mainland distribution. Tiger quolls are rare in southeastern Queensland and mainly restricted to national parks. In Victoria, quoll populations have declined by nearly 50%. The range decline was not as severe in New South Wales, but they are still rare. The quoll was probably never very numerous in South Australia. In Tasmania, the tiger quoll mostly frequents the northern and western areas where rains are seasonal.
Tiger quoll | Range and ecology
Propleopus chillagoensis is an extinct species of marsupial, of the genus "Propleopus". It was found in new North Queensland, and is related to the musky rat-kangaroo. "Propleopus chillagoensis" was likely omnivorous.
Propleopus chillagoensis | Introduction
, there was an estimated population of less than 10,000 and was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. A nocturnal predator, it inhabits savanna woodlands. Its predators include domesticated and feral dogs, and feral cats. It has been observed in Wasur National Park and Tonda Wildlife Management Area.
Bronze quoll | Status
These territories often share rock ledges and other open spaces. This serves to mark territory and for other social functions. Males spread out over about 15 square kilometres and typically overlap with several female ranges, about three to four square kilometres each. Although males share their large territories with smaller female territories, females do not cross theirs with other females. Most female home ranges contains around 70 hollow log dens and 110 burrows.
Western quoll | Habitat
The subfamily Dasyurinae includes several genera of small carnivorous marsupials native to Australia: quolls, kowari, mulgara, kaluta, dibblers, phascogales, pseudantechinuses, and the Tasmanian devil. The subfamily is defined largely on biochemical criteria. Order Dasyuromorphia
Dasyurinae | Introduction
A species of a monotypic genus allied to the Thylacinidae family, resembling the diverse and sometimes contemporary species of "Thylacinus" but for unique features of the dentition. The form is a predatory marsupial, assumed to occupy a trophic level within a variety of habit. As alluded to in the name, the form of the body, skull and snout closely resembles those of dogs and wolves, the Canidae family of placental mammals that dominates other continents, and is amongst the largest known of the thylacinids. The classification as a "large" mammalian predator follows Tim Flannery's definition of any mammal greater in mass than "Dasyurus maculatus", a modern species known as a quoll which "Maximucinus muirheadae" greatly exceeded with a weight calculated at 18 kilograms.
Maximucinus muirheadae | Description
The New Guinean quoll is small, usually weighing just over 1 lb (0.45 kg). Its body is brown and the back spotted with white; the spots do not extend onto the lightly haired tail. It resembles a cat-like opossum; the quolls are also referred to as "native cats" and occasionally "marsupial cats" or "tiger cats". Its feet have transversely striated pads, which is likely to be an adaptation for grip and is indicative of a life spent in the trees. It lives throughout the forests of New Guinea at elevations up to 11,000 ft (3300 m) but usually closer to 3,000 ft (900 m).
New Guinean quoll | Description
Saltbush foxglove grows in sand on sandplains mainly between Geraldton and Shark Bay in the Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.
Quoya atriplicina | Distribution and habitat
The name "Dasyurus" (from Greek δασύουρος, "dasyouros") means "hairy-tail", and was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. In 1770, Captain Cook collected quolls on his exploration of the east coast of Australia, adopting an Aboriginal name for the animals. Although the origin of Cook's specimens are unclear, the word and its variants "je-quoll", "jaquol" or "taquol" are derived from the word "dhigul" in the language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of far north Queensland. No evidence indicates the local indigenous people used the word in the Sydney area. They were likened in appearance to a polecat or marten in the earliest reports, the tiger quoll being called "spotted marten" and eastern quoll "spotted opossum", but by 1804, the names "native fox", "native cat" and "tiger cat" had been adopted by early settlers; quolls are still called "marsupial foxes" or "marsupial cats".
Quoll | Taxonomy
Tiger quolls were once native to Flinders and King Islands, but were extirpated since the 20th century, so are not present on Tasmanian offshore islands. Tiger quolls live in a variety of habitats, but seem to prefer wet forests such as rainforests and closed eucalypt forest. They are arboreal, but only moderately, as 11% of their travelling is done above ground.
Tiger quoll | Range and ecology
Wakaleo pitikantensis is a species of carnivorous marsupial that was discovered at fossil sites in South Australia.
Wakaleo pitikantensis | Introduction
This quoya mostly grows in shrubland in coastal areas in sand over limestone however it is also found in inland areas near Wiluna and Carnegie and near the border with South Australia and the Northern Territory. There are a few records from the Northern Territory.
Quoya loxocarpa | Distribution and habitat
In the wild, its roaming is restricted to a very small range in the South West of Western Australia, with a number of small scattered populations. One large population exists on Rottnest Island and a smaller population is on Bald Island near Albany. The islands are free of certain predators such as red foxes and cats. On Rottnest, quokkas are common and occupy a variety of habitats, ranging from semiarid scrub to cultivated gardens. Prickly "Acanthocarpus" plants, which are unaccommodating for humans and other relatively large animals to walk through, provide their favorite daytime shelter for sleeping. Additionally, they are known for their ability to climb trees.
Quokka | Ecology
Quercylurus major is an extinct nimravid carnivoran, or "false sabre-tooth," from the early Oligocene of France. Its fossils are found from Early Oligocene strata in Quercy. "Q. major". was possibly the largest nimravid ever known, as its fossils suggest it was similar in size to the modern-day brown bear and was scansorial. It was very muscular, walked on plantigrade (flat-footed). So far, there is only one described species within this genus - "Q. major".
Quercylurus | Introduction
The carnivorous marsupials, Dasyuromorphia, of New Guinea are all small in comparison to Australian species, and most are insectivorous. The largest is the bronze quoll ("Dasyurus spartacus"), a rare quoll, first discovered in southern New Guinea in 1979. It reaches a snout to vent length of 36 centimetres (14.2 in). Fossils of larger marsupials have been found, including the carnivorous thylacine ("Thylacinus" sp.), however evidence of carnivorous megafauna, such as the marsupial lion ("Thylacoleo"), has not been found. The kangaroos, Macropodidae, of New Guinea are highly varied in their ecology and behaviour. Those closely related to the Australian kangaroos, such as the agile wallaby ("Macropus agilis"), inhabit the open grasslands of New Guinea.
Fauna of New Guinea | Monotremes and marsupials
Fossils of this marine species were found in Eocene strata in Île-de-France, France
Pleurotomella quoniamensis | Distribution
Dracontolestes are a genus of extinct insectivorous mammals in the family Mixodectidae. It is known only from a fragment of fossilized mandible found in Dragon Canyon, Utah.
Dracontolestes | Introduction
The Quoin Head marlock is found on coastal slopes, creeklines and cliff tops where it is only known from a small area at the type location near Quoin Head .
Eucalyptus mcquoidii | Distribution and habitat
The northern quoll is the smallest of the four Australian quoll species. Females are smaller than males, with adult females weighing between 350 and 690 g and adult males 540 and 1120 g. Head and body length ranges from 270–370 mm (adult males) to 249–310 mm (adult females). Tail length ranges between 202 and 345 mm. Northern quolls feed primarily on invertebrates, but also consume fleshy fruit (particularly figs), and a wide range of vertebrates, including small mammals, birds, lizards, snakes, and frogs. They also scavenge on roadkills, around campsites, and in garbage tins. A remarkable feature of this species is that the males show complete die-off after mating, leaving the females to raise the young alone.
Northern quoll | Life history
"Quoya dilatata" mainly occurs between Perth and Carnamah but has also been found near Northam and Cowcowing, in the Avon Wheatbelt, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions. The only known collection near the Murchison River was of the type specimen.
Quoya dilatata | Distribution
Mutpuracinus archibaldi is an extinct carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial that lived during the middle Miocene and is the smallest known thylacinid at approximately 1.1 kilograms, the size of a quoll, though, more closely related to the recently extinct thylacine. "M. archibaldi" would have resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory, the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade. Fossils of "M. archibaldi" have been discovered in deposits at Bullock Creek (Northern Territory) in the Northern Territory of Australia, and in the same deposits as "Nimbacinus richi". It is named in honor of Ian Archibald for his contributions to the northern territory.
Mutpuracinus archibaldi | Introduction
Both fawn and black individuals can be born in the same litter, although in surviving populations the former represent about three times more common than the latter. The spots are in diameter, and are found across the upper body and flanks, from the top of the head to the rump, but, unlike some other species of quoll, do not extend onto the tail. Females possess a relatively shallow fur-lined pouch formed by lateral folds of skin. The pouch becomes enlarged during the breeding season, and includes six to eight teats, which only become elongated and functional if one of the young attaches to them, regressing again after they leave the pouch.
Eastern quoll | Description
Phascolonus was a genus of prehistoric Australian marsupials in the wombat family. The largest species, "Phascolonus gigas", weighed as much as 200 kg (450 lb). "Phascolonus" existed alongside an even larger marsupial, "Diprotodon", which weighed as much as three tons and was distantly related to wombats. Both disappeared at the end of the Late Pleistocene in a Quaternary extinction event together with many other large Australian animals. At Tea Tree Cave, a two-million-year-old "Phascolonus" fossil was found alongside that of the crocodilian "Quinkana".
Phascolonus | Introduction
The northern quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae, and is often stated to be the most distinctive Australian quoll. It was first described in 1842 by naturalist and author John Gould, who gave it the species name "hallucatus", which indicates it has a notable first digit. This species has sometimes been placed in a separate genus, "Satanellus".
Northern quoll | Taxonomy
The eastern quoll is a solitary predator, hunting at night for its prey of insects, small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They have been known to scavenge food from the much larger Tasmanian devil. Although the majority of their diet consists of meat, they also eat some vegetable matter, including fruit during the summer, and grass year-round. The eastern quoll is itself prey for Tasmanian devils and masked owls. Eastern quolls are nocturnal, and spend the day resting in burrows, although they may also use natural rock crevices or hollow tree trunks. The burrows often consist of no more than a simple, blind-ending tunnel, but are sometimes more complex, including one or more nesting chambers lined with grass.
Eastern quoll | Behaviour
The western quoll is about the size of a domestic cat. It is coloured a rufous brown and has 40–70 white spots on its back with a creamy white underside. Its spots actually help diminish its outline from the moon at night when hunting. It has five toes on its hind feet and granular pads. The head and body are about 36 cm to 46 cm in length, and the tail is around 22 cm to 30 cm. With large eyes and pointed ears, it is well adapted for nocturnal life. The black brush on its tail extends from halfway down to the tip.
Western quoll | Description
Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi lived during the early Miocene and has been found in Riversleigh. The species was a carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial in Australia. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory, the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade.
Ngamalacinus timmulvaneyi | Introduction
Adults are between long, with hairy tails about long. Females have six nipples and develop a pouch during the breeding season, which opens toward the tail (with the exception of the tiger quoll, which has a true pouch) when they are rearing young. Their coats are brown or black, with a sparse scattering of white spots. They have bright pink noses and long snouts. Their natural lifespans are between two and five years; the larger species tend to live longer than the smaller. Quolls are solitary, nocturnal animals. The average weight differs greatly depending on the species; male western and eastern quolls weigh about and females .
Quoll | Description
As with all quolls, the penis of the male bears an unusual fleshy appendage. The large intestine of eastern quolls is relatively simple, having no caecum, and not being divided into a colon and rectum. An unusual feature of eastern quolls is the presence of an opening connecting the ventricles of the heart in newborn young, in addition to that connecting the atria found in all marsupials. Both openings close after a few days.
Eastern quoll | Description
"Quoya cuneata" grows in red sand between the Murchison River and Shark Bay in the Carnarvon, Geraldton Sandplains, Murchison and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.
Quoya cuneata | Distribution and habitat
it contains eight species, found only in Argentina and Brazil:
Aillutticus | Species
Quadrisporites is an extinct genus of acritarchs. The species "Q. horridus" was located in outcrop "Morro do Papaléo" in the town of Mariana Pimentel in Brazil, the geopark Paleorrota. The outcrop is in the Rio Bonito Formation and date of Sakmarian in the Permian.
Quadrisporites | Introduction
The tiger quoll is the largest, with the male weighing about and the female . The northern quoll is the smallest, and the male weighs on average , and the female .
Quoll | Description
A hypercarnivorous marsupial distantly related to "Sarcophilus harrisii", the Tasmanian devil. a marsupial carnivore which occurs in Tasmania. The mass of the animal is estimated to have between 20 and 25 kilograms, around twice the weight of "S. harrisii", and able to consume animals greater in size than itself. The new species is the first described from the Wholly Dooley site, which was discovered by examining satellite data and revealed an assemblage of unknown taxa deposited during a period of aridification in the Riversleigh area.
Whollydooleya | Description
Quolls pin small prey down with their front paws while devouring it, and jump onto larger prey, sinking in their claws and closing their jaws around the neck. Quolls can obtain all the water they need from their food, making them quite adaptable during droughts or other periods of water shortage.
Quoll | Diet
The order Dasyuromorphia (meaning "hairy tail") comprises most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the thylacine. There are 73 living species in this order, 72 of which belong to the family Dasyuridae and the numbat, of the family Myrmecobiidae.
List of mammal genera | <a href="Dasyuromorphia">Dasyuromorphia</a>
The tribe Dasyurini includes several genera of small carnivorous marsupials native to Australia: quolls, kowari, mulgara, kaluta, dibblers, neophascogales, pseudantechinuses, and the Tasmanian devil.
Dasyurini | Introduction
Current threats include predation by European foxes and land clearing. The spotted-tail quoll "Dasyurus maculatus maculatus" has been recorded in the park and is mainland Australia's largest surviving marsupial and one of three distinct subspecies. The spotted-tail quoll has undergone drastic losses in Queensland with a 50 - 90% reduction in range since European settlement. This is attributed to habitat loss, fragmentation, logging, poison baiting, predators and cane toads, habitat critical to the spotted-tail quoll includes large tracts of undisturbed mature forest.
Conondale National Park | Mammals
They can be found from July to September.
Hyles gallii | Biology
decepticon" was found in rainforest, lowland coastal forest, "Casuarina" forest, old settlements, coral karst scrubland, and along roadsides. "Pheidole megacephala" was not found in forested habitats on Anjouan, but was collected once from within a coastal village. Whether the other two species occur in direct sympatry, or if they are spatially or ecologically separated is not known.
Pheidole decepticon | Habitat and distribution
In the autumn generation, frass is incorporated in the sides and rear of the cocoon and the cocoon is attached both to the roof and the floor of the mine.
Phyllonorycter quercifoliella | Introduction
This species was first found in a soil sample of limestone rocks at the base of a cliff in Guangxi, China, off the cliffs at the southern edge of Jiaole Cun and is believed to live on the cavern walls of the limestone.
Angustopila dominikae | Discovery
Invictokoala monticola is an extinct phascolarctid marsupial mammal from the middle Pleistocene of central-eastern Queensland, Australia. The holotype was found during cave excavations at Mount Etna (a local mountain in central-eastern Queensland which was named after the famed Sicilian volcano). It was first named by Gilbert J. Price and Scott A. Hocknull in 2011.
Invictokoala | Introduction
The western quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae and is most closely related to the bronze quoll ("Dasyurus spartacus"), a recently described species from New Guinea that was for some time believed to be an outlying population of the western quoll. Its species name, "geoffroii", refers to the prominent French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who named the genus "Dasyurus" in 1796. The species has occasionally been placed in the genus "Dasyurinus". It is also known as the chuditch () in Western Australia (from Noongar "djooditj"); "chuditch" serves as both the singular and plural form. Other common names include "atyelpe" or "chilpa" (from Arrernte), "kuninka" (from Western Desert language); "idnya" (Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges) and the archaic western native cat.
Western quoll | Taxonomy
Wakaleo schouteni is a species of carnivorous marsupial that was discovered at fossil sites in South Australia.
Wakaleo schouteni | Introduction
Teloganopsis deficiens, the little black quill, is a species of spiny crawler mayfly in the family Ephemerellidae. It is found in North America.
Teloganopsis deficiens | Introduction
Woolley's false antechinus (Pseudantechinus woolleyae), also known as Woolley's pseudantechinus, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial belonging to the family Dasyuridae. It is found in the Australian state of Western Australia, primarily in the Pilbara, Ashburton and Murchison regions.
Woolley's false antechinus | Introduction
Quercymegapodiidae is an extinct group of stem Galliformes birds with fossils found in France and Brazil.
Quercymegapodiidae | Introduction
They are commonly found in arid regions of northern Australia, clumped together and reaching one metre high, providing habitat for organisms such as mammals.
Astrebla | Introduction
They are frequently found near talaiots.
Taula | Introduction
The last mainland eastern quoll specimen was collected as roadkill at Nielsen Park on 31 January 1963. The rare Nielsen Park she-oak was originally identified here in 1986 from ten specimens. Those original plants have since died. However, efforts to propagate and reintroduce the species began from the time it was identified, and plants were planted at several locations around Nielsen Park and nearby Gap Bluff and Hermit Point. Fifty-four of these remained alive in 2000.
Nielsen Park | Rare flora and fauna
Fossils of this species were found in the Coralline Crag and Red Crag, Sutton, GB
Rimosodaphnella semicolon | Distribution
Haplolambda is an extinct genus of pantodont mammals in the family Barylambdidae from the Paleocene of North America, containing two species: "H. quinni" known from Colorado and "H. simpsoni" from Utah.
Haplolambda | Introduction
Qiaodiella is an extinct genus from a well-known class of fossil marine arthropods, the trilobites. It lived during the later part of the Botomian stage, which lasted from approximately 524 to 518.5 million years ago. This faunal stage was part of the Cambrian Period.
Qiaodiella | Introduction
Calamospondylus (meaning "quill vertebrae") is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It lived during the Early Cretaceous, and its fossils were found on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
Calamospondylus | Introduction
Thylacoleo carnifex, a marsupial lion, is an extinct species of carnivorous marsupial mammal that lived in Australia from the early to the late Pleistocene (1.6 million–46 thousand years ago). Despite its name, it is not closely related to the lion but is a member of the order Diprotodontia, one of the taxonomic groups of Australian marsupials.
Thylacoleo carnifex | Introduction
There have been ongoing attempts to re-establish the western quoll in parts of its former range. A five-year trial re-introduction of western quoll to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia began in April 2014. Despite the loss of about a third of the first release population (mostly due to predation by feral cats), most of the surviving females bred and sixty joeys were born. , a final release of 15 quolls from Western Australia was carried out in the Flinders Ranges, with a total population of 150. About half of this population was born locally. Monitoring of the population is planned for an additional two years.
Western quoll | Reintroductions
Nimbacinus richi lived during the middle Miocene and has been found in deposits in Bullock Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia. "Nimbacinus richi" is distinguished from Nimbacinus dicksoni by a well-preserved holotype of a right dentary. The species was a carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial in Australia. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory; the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade.
Nimbacinus richi | Introduction
Thylacinus yorkellus is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial, a sister species of the recently extinct "Thylacinus cynocephalus", the Tasmanian tiger, both of which existed on mainland Australia.
Thylacinus yorkellus | Introduction
Lekaneleo roskellyae is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial that existed during the early Miocene in Australia. Once allied to the type species of the genus "Priscileo", later placed as "Wakaleo pitikantensis", ""Priscileo" roskellyae" was subsequently transferred to its own genus "Lekaneleo".
Lekaneleo | Introduction
The species is found primarily in the Gulf of Mexico.
Lamellitrochus carinatus | Distribution
It is found in the Philippines on the island of Polillo. The type locality given is "Island of Polillo, P.I." (= Philippine Islands).
Trimeresurus flavomaculatus halieus | Geographic range
A species of "Wakaleo", marsupial carnivores that found at fossil sites in Australia.
Wakaleo oldfieldi | Description
The specific name "guokr", "nutshell", is that of a Chinese scientific social network. The holotype QJGPM 1001 was found in a layer of the Suining Formation, which was seen as dating from the Late Jurassic but is now considered mid-Cretaceous (late Aptian) based on radiometric dating. It consists of a partial skeleton with skull. It includes the rear of the skull, a partial right lower jaw, a complete series of seventeen neck vertebrae, the first six back vertebrae, ribs, the probable tenth tail vertebra, a series of twenty-eight rear tail vertebrae, chevrons, the left pubic bone and two upper pedal phalanges.
Qijianglong | Discovery
Stein's cuscus ("Phalanger vestitus") is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Stein's cuscus | Introduction
Spotted-tailed quoll "(Dasyurus maculatus)" is an endangered species listed on the EPBC Act. It is a medium-sized marsupial carnivore, the largest of the "Dasyurus" species, distinguished by the white spots on the tail. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is listed as vulnerable under the EPBC Act. The Parma wallaby "(Macropus parma)" is listed as vulnerable in NSW under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act), is a small nocturnal, cryptic wallaby that was once thought to be extinct. Another species listed as vulnerable under the TSC Act is the yellow-bellied glider "(Petaurus australis)" often found in old-growth wet sclerophyll forests.
Nightcap National Park | Mammals
Fossils of this marine species were found in Oligocene strata in Southwest France.
Conasprella aquitanica | Distribution
The population appears to be centered in the highlands of New Guinea.
New Guinean quoll | Description
They were especially abundant in the early Ediacaran Mistaken Point assemblage found in Newfoundland.
Rangeomorph | Introduction
This marine species occurs off Balut Island, the Philippines
Conus quiquandoni | Distribution