Large brush tail bagler
| Large brush tail bagler | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drawing by John Gould |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phascogale tapoatafa | ||||||||||||
| ( Meyer , 1793) |
The large brush -tailed pouch ( Phascogale tapoatafa ), also known as the large brush-tailed pouch , is a medium-sized member of the predator family . It occurs in various isolated areas across Australia.
Subspecies and distribution
Since the end of 2015, the large brush-tailed butler has been divided into three subspecies, which can be distinguished based on their size and some skull features.
- Phascogale tapoatafa tapoatafa , southeastern Australia to central Queensland.
- P. tapoatafa wambenger , southwestern Australia.
- P. tapoatafa kimberleyensis , Kimberley region in northwest Western Australia.
- The large brushtail pouches of the Cape York Peninsula may have to be assigned to a fourth, not yet described subspecies. However, there are too few specimens of this population in the collections of zoological museums to confirm this with certainty.
The northern brushtail butler ( Phascogale pirata ), which used to be a subspecies of the big brushtail, is now a separate species.
features
In the state of Victoria , the males of the great brushtail butler have a head-trunk length of 16 to 26 cm, a 17.5 to 23.4 cm long tail and weigh 175 to 311 g. Females stay significantly smaller with head-to-trunk lengths of 14.8 to 22.3 cm, tail lengths of 16 to 22.6 cm and a weight of 106 to 212 g. In the other distribution regions, the animals are 20 to 30% smaller. The animals have a gray back and a cream-colored peritoneum. The ears are hairless. The rear tail section of the animals is black and bushy.
Habitat and way of life
The large brushtail bucket lives in rainforests, dry, open hardwood forests with little undergrowth, malls and open bush areas. They belong to the predatory baggers most adapted to a tree-dwelling (arboreal) way of life, are nocturnal, very agile and can jump up to 2 meters. They sleep through the day in a spherical nest made of leaves and twigs, which is laid out in a tree hollow or in deep bushes. Their hind feet can be moved around the heel at an angle of 180 °, which means that the animals can run up and down tree trunks or in a spiral around them. The males claim large territories, often more than 100 hectares, and defend them aggressively against other males. The territories of the females are much smaller with 20 to 40 ha, in favorable habitats even only 5 ha. The prey of the large brush-tailed buccaneers, which mainly consists of large insects and spiders, is caught mainly on the tree bark or by loosening loose pieces of bark. In addition to arthropods, they also eat small vertebrates on occasion.
Reproduction
Reproduction takes place in a three-week period between mid-May and early July. The animals typically mate in a nest in a tree cavity. The males die after mating. The reasons for this lie in the increased release of stress hormones and the subsequent physical decline during the mating season. The gestation period is around 30 days. In most cases, the females have eight young animals, which corresponds to the number of teats. Females do not have a proper pouch, but skin folds develop around the eight teats before birth to protect the offspring. The skin folds initially completely surround the young animals, but due to their rapid growth they protrude slightly from the skin folds from the fifth week of life. From the seventh week of life, the female leaves the nest to search for food without the young, but returns every few hours to suckle and warm them. At 20 weeks of age, the young are weaned. Most females give birth only once in their life, few give birth twice. The females reach a maximum age of three years.
Hazards and protective measures
The IUCN classifies the great brushtail bagger as Near Threatened (potentially endangered), the Kimberley subspecies ( P. t. Kimberleyensis ) as endangered (Endangered). The reasons for this are the destruction of the habitat through mining, logging, the spread of human settlements and the stalking by introduced predators such as domestic cats and red foxes . Before the European colonization of the Australian continent, the species was much more widespread and inhabited most of the southwest and southeast of Australia and a larger area of the Kimberley region than it does today.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f Andrew Baker: Family Dasyuridae (Carnivorous Marsupials). Pages 325–326 in Don E. Wilson , Russell A. Mittermeier : Handbook of the Mammals of the World - Volume 5. Monotremes and Marsupials. Lynx Editions, 2015, ISBN 978-84-96553-99-6
- ↑ a b K. P. Aplin, SG Rhind, J. Ten Have & RT Chesser: Taxonomic revision of Phascogale tapoatafa (Meyer, 1793) (Dasyuridae; Marsupialia), including descriptions of two new subspecies and confirmation of P. pirata Thomas, 1904 as a 'Top End' endemic. Zootaxa 4055 (1): 001-073 (8 Dec. 2015), doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4055.1.1
- ↑ Phascogale tapoatafa in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017.2. Posted by: Burbidge, AA & Woinarski, J., 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
