Brushtail Bagger
| Brushtail Bagger | ||||||||||||
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Great brushtail pouch ( Phascogale tapoatafa ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phascogals | ||||||||||||
| Temminck , 1824 |
The brush tail pouches ( Phascogale ), also called brush tail pouch mice , form a genus of marsupials within the family of predatory pouches (Dasyuridae). The genus includes three species, the large brush- tailed pouch ( Phascogale tapoatafa ), the small brush- tailed pouch ( Phascogale calura ) and the northern brush- tailed pouch ( Phascogale pirata ).
distribution
Brushtail Baggers live in Australia , they are distributed in several parts of the country, including southwestern Western Australia , the north of the continent, on the east coast and in southern Victoria .
description
Outwardly, these animals resemble mice with the exception of the tail, which is covered with long black hair. The fur of these animals is gray on the upper side, the underside is whitish. In addition to the size, the species also differ in the color of the tail root, which is gray in the larger species and red in the smaller species. While the large brush tail bag has a head body length of 16 to 26 centimeters and a weight of 110 to 310 grams, the small brush tail bag is significantly smaller with a head body length of 9 to 12 centimeters and a weight of 40 to 70 grams. The tail is the same length or slightly longer than the body.
Way of life
These animals are forest dwellers who live in both the wet rainforests of Queensland and the dry forests of other parts of the country. They are nocturnal and sleep during the day in nests made of leaves and twigs, which they set up in branches or rarely on the ground. The long tail hairs are erect during their phases of activity. This effect is supposed to deter predators or distract from the body.
Brushtail pouches are territorial animals that mark their territory with urine or feces. The territories of females are around 40 hectares, those of males around 100 hectares. While the females have a strong territorial behavior and the territories do not overlap, the territories of the males can overlap with those of other males or with those of females.
Brushtail Butlers are carnivores. They feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, spiders and other invertebrates, and they sometimes raid chicken coops. There are reports that they sometimes consume nectar as well.
Reproduction
The initiative for mating and also the choice of partner comes from the female. This does not have a real pouch, but before birth it develops skin folds around the eight teats that are supposed to protect the offspring. After a gestation period of 30 days, seven to eight young animals are born and spend their first forty to fifty days clinging to the teat. She later leaves the mother in a nest while foraging for food. They are weaned at five months and sexually mature at eight months.
Male animals almost always die after mating, i.e. they hardly live to be a year old, females usually die in their second year of life, and under certain circumstances they can give birth to a second offspring.
threat
The populations of the three species are declining, the main reasons for this being the reenactment by introduced predators such as cats or foxes and the conversion of their habitat into cattle pastures. The small brushtail bagger is only found in southwestern Western Australia and is considered threatened according to the IUCN , the big brushtail bagger is still widespread and is considered to be of low risk.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0801857899
Individual evidence
- ↑ KP 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
