Mammals · Dasyuromorphia · Dasyuridae

Brush-tailed Phascogale

Phascogale tapoatafa

Near Threatened

It could become endangered in the near future if current threats go unchecked. See full glossary

The brush-tailed phascogale — known in Spanish as falangista colicerdosa or fascogale de cola de cepillo — is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial, with large eyes, bare ears and a tail ending in a spectacular crest of black hairs. At night it hunts insects, spiders and small vertebrates, running along trunks and branches with enormous agility. It needs mature woodland with old trees and hollows to nest in, so it disappears from young or intensively managed stands.

Weight

100 g – 300 g

Size

16 cm – 27 cm

Lifespan

3 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Moderate

Temperate forestCarnivore Nocturnal Solitary Near Threatened Temperate forest Mammal

1countries5same family

Fun facts

All the males die after their first and only breeding season: the hormonal stress of the rut collapses their immune system within a few weeks, a phenomenon called semelparity that occurs in only a handful of mammals.
It can bristle the black crest of its tail until it looks like a bottle brush, probably to appear larger to a predator.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Open forest of mature eucalypts with nesting hollows, in southern and eastern Australia
Sexual maturity: 12 months
Gestation / incubation: 29 days
Litter / clutch size: 6.4 (average)

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phascogale_tapoatafa