Phascogale

Phascogale
	Brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Marsupialia
Order:	Dasyuromorphia
Family:	Dasyuridae
Subfamily:	Dasyurinae
Tribe:	Phascogalini
Genus:	Phascogale; Temminck, 1824
Type species
	Didelphis penicillata; Shaw, 1800; (= Vivera tapoatafa, F. Meyer, 1793
Species
	See text

The phascogales (members of the eponymous genus Phascogale), also known as wambengers or mousesacks,^[1] are carnivorous Australian marsupials of the family Dasyuridae. There are three species: the brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), the red-tailed phascogale (P. calura), and the northern brush-tailed phascogale (P. pirata). As with a number of dasyurid species, the males live for only one year, dying after a period of frenzied mating. The name wambenger comes from the Nyungar language.^[2] The term Phascogale was coined in 1824 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in reference to the brush-tailed phascogale, and means "pouched weasel". All three species are listed as either Near Threatened or Vulnerable by the IUCN.

Phylogeny

The following is a phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences:^[3]

Dasyuromorphia

Thylacinus (thylacine)

Myrmecobius (numbat)

Sminthopsis (dunnarts)

	Phascogale (wambengers)

	Dasyurus (quolls)

Species

The genus consists of the following three species:

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale tapoatafa	southeast Australia from South Australia to mid-coastal Queensland, Western Australia
	Red-tailed phascogale – Phascogale calura	south-western Western Australia
	Northern brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale pirata	northern Australia.

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 marsupials [1][2]. Instead, they form temporary folds of skin - sometimes called a "pseudo-pouch" [3] 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

^ A Hollow Victory - The Morabool News
^ "Borrowings from Australian Aboriginal Languages". Australian National University. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
^ Miller, W.; Drautz, D. I.; Janecka, J. E.; Lesk, A. M.; Ratan, A.; Tomsho, L. P.; Packard, M.; Zhang, Y.; McClellan, L. R.; Qi, J.; Zhao, F.; Gilbert, M. T. P.; Dalen, L.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Ericson, P. G.P.; Huson, D. H.; Helgen, K. M.; Murphy, W. J.; Gotherstrom, A.; Schuster, S. C. (February 2009). "The mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)". Genome Res. 19 (2): 213–20. doi:10.1101/gr.082628.108. PMC 2652203. PMID 19139089.

Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 31–32. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.

External links

Brush-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [4]. Also: [5]
Red-tailed Phascogale fact sheet: [6]. Also: [7]

[1] A Hollow Victory - The Morabool News

[2] "Borrowings from Australian Aboriginal Languages". Australian National University. 18 October 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2024.

[GR1-3] Miller, W.; Drautz, D. I.; Janecka, J. E.; Lesk, A. M.; Ratan, A.; Tomsho, L. P.; Packard, M.; Zhang, Y.; McClellan, L. R.; Qi, J.; Zhao, F.; Gilbert, M. T. P.; Dalen, L.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Ericson, P. G.P.; Huson, D. H.; Helgen, K. M.; Murphy, W. J.; Gotherstrom, A.; Schuster, S. C. (February 2009). "The mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus)". Genome Res. 19 (2): 213–20. doi:10.1101/gr.082628.108. PMC 2652203. PMID 19139089.

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