BRUSHTAILED PHASCOGALE

The BRUSH-TAILED PHASCOGALE is by far the most arboreal of the dasyurids. 95% arboreal, the Brush-tailed Phascogale lives in a variety of forest and woodland habitats having a reliable annual rainfall within the range of 500 to 2000 mm but its preferred habitat is open dry sclerophyll forest with little ground cover. The species is found in all mainland Australian states and on a couple of close islands, however is not present in Tasmania.

During the day it sleeps in a nest lined shredded bark in a tree

hollow, emerging at dusk to feed. Animals return to the nest occasionally through the night to rest.

The claws of all feet are long and sharp and the hindfoot can grip either by a slight inward folding of the sides of the sole or by flexing of the hallux. The hindfoot can be rotated backwards, enabling the phascogale to climb upwards or downwards with equal ease.

The diet consists largely of arthropods found on and under the bark of tree trunks. Food includes beetles, spiders and centipedes, nectar when available, and the occasional small vertebrate that can be subdued, Chook killing is over-rated and not what they do in the natural environment. Although the species is usually silent, the presence of an unusual or threatening stimulus may elicit foot-tapping – a repeated staccato sound made by rapping the forefeet on the bark of a tree, often accompanied by short forward movements. This behaviour may be repeated by another animal nearby and probably serves as an alert signal.

Mating occurs in winter, and the mating system is promiscious. As the mating season approaches, males show an increasing interest in females, and cover increasingly larger areas to encounter as many females as possible. Mating probably takes place most often in the nest, and during winter males and females can sometimes be found together Birth occurs after a gestation of about 30 days, more young being born than can be accommodated on the 6- 8 nipples (WA ones have 6,7, or 8 teats), elsewhere 8 is the norm – The female lacks a pouch, but an area of soft tissue surrounding the nipples and covered by long sparse hairs enlarges rapidly during gestation. Soft folds of skin around this area provide some protection for the young, which remain attached to the nipples for about 48 days.

Thereafter, they are left in the nest while the mother forages over an exclusive range of 20-40 hectares. Mothers try to raise as many young as they have can but some mortality of young does occur especially during early independence. The species is solitary , juveniles of both sexes disperse from the natal nest at the end of weaning, males typically travel long distances (kilometers) before setting up a stable home range, whereas female juveniles often remain philopatric (establishing a territory close to where they were raised). Both sexes are solitary, and females maintain territories exclusive of other females.

As in antechinuses, males expend much energy in locating the sparsely distributed females during the well synchronised mating period The effort is fueled by a surge of reproductive hormones that leave the males susceptible to gastric ulcers and stress-induced diseases and all die soon after the mating period. The Brush-tailed Phasocogale is the largest mammal in which the male is known to die at the end of its first breeding season.

Females may survive into a second year and breed a second, but like the males, females invest most of their effort in the first breeding season. The toll of lactation is huge (the litter can weight 300% the mothers body mother. The number of females that survive to successfully breed in their second year is quite low and estimated to vary between 6 – 16%.

The most serious threat to the Brush-tailed Phascogale comes from destruction of
its habitat and it is no longer common around large cities. However, there is ample,suitable habitat, remote from urban areas, which is unattractive for orthodox forestryand unsuitable for most types of agriculture.

SIZE :
(Phascogale tapoatafa tapoatafa)
HEAD AND BODY LENGTH: 180-230 (202) mm (males), 160-190 (179) mm (females)
TAIL LENGTH: 175-220(196) mm (males), 170-210 (182) mm (females)
WEIGHT: 175-235 (199) g (males), 110-190(145) g( females)

IDENTIFICATION: Uniform deep grizzled grey on head, back and flanks, pale cream underneath. Large naked ears. Conspicuous, intensely black Bottle-brush’ tail with hairs up to 40 mm long.

RECENT SYNONYMS: Phascogale penicillata.

OTHER COMMON NAMES: Black-tailed Phascogale, Tuan, Common Wambenger (WA).

STATUS: Common, limited.

SUBSPECIES: Phascogale tapoatafa tapoatafa, southern Australia. Phascogale tapoatafa pirata, northern Australia, slightly smaller.

Special thanks to Susan, Ex Department of Environment & Conservation for helping F.A.U.N.A. to correct the information on the Brushtailed Phascogale.

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