The phascogales (members of the eponymous

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Phascogale''), also known as wambengers or mousesacks,A Hollow Victory
- The Morabool News are carnivorous Australian

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

s of the family

Dasyuridae The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...

. There are three species: the

brush-tailed phascogale The brush-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale tapoatafa''), also known by its Australian native name tuan, the common wambenger, the black-tailed mousesack or the black-tailed phascogale, is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the family D ...

(''Phascogale tapoatafa''), the

red-tailed phascogale The red-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale calura''), also known as the red-tailed wambenger, red-tailed mousesack or kenngoor, is a small carnivorous marsupial found in inland areas of south-western Western Australia, and has been reintroduced in ...

(''P. calura''), and the

northern brush-tailed phascogale The northern brush-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale pirata''), also known as the northern brush-tailed wambenger or northern brush-tailed mousesack is a species of marsupial in the family Dasyuridae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a ...

(''P. pirata''). As with a number of dasyurid species, the males live for only one year, dying after a period of frenzied mating. The term ''Phascogale'' was coined in 1824 by

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch people, Dutch Aristocracy (class), aristocrat, Zoology, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dut ...

in reference to the brush-tailed phascogale, and means "pouched weasel". All three species are listed as either

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

or Vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Phylogeny

The following is a phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences:

Species

The genus consists of the following three species: *

Brush-tailed phascogale The brush-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale tapoatafa''), also known by its Australian native name tuan, the common wambenger, the black-tailed mousesack or the black-tailed phascogale, is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the family D ...

– ''Phascogale tapoatafa'' *

Red-tailed phascogale The red-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale calura''), also known as the red-tailed wambenger, red-tailed mousesack or kenngoor, is a small carnivorous marsupial found in inland areas of south-western Western Australia, and has been reintroduced in ...

– ''Phascogale calura'' *

Northern brush-tailed phascogale The northern brush-tailed phascogale (''Phascogale pirata''), also known as the northern brush-tailed wambenger or northern brush-tailed mousesack is a species of marsupial in the family Dasyuridae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a ...

– ''Phascogale pirata''

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 marsupial

http://www.marsupialsociety.org.au/keeping-marsupials-dasyurids.html]. Instead, they form temporary folds of skin - sometimes called a "pseudo-pouch

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

Also

* Red-tailed Phascogale fact sheet

Also

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1754387 Dasyuromorphs Marsupials of Australia Marsupial genera Taxa named by Coenraad Jacob Temminck