The phascogales (members of the eponymous genus Phascogale), also known as wambengers or mousesacks,A Hollow Victory - The Morabool News 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. 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:
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 calurasouth-western Western Australia Northern brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale piratanorthern 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 . 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: