The New Guinean Quoll also known as the New Guinea Quoll or New Guinea Native Cat, is a carnivorous marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

 mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 native to New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

. It is the second largest surviving marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by giving birth to relatively undeveloped young. Close to 70% of the 334 extant species occur in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, with the remaining 100 found in the Americas, primarily in South America, but with thirteen in Central...

 carnivore

Carnivore

A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...

 of New Guinea.

Taxonomy

The New Guinean Quoll belongs to the Dasyuridae

Dasyuridae

Dasyuridae is a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 61 species divided into 15 genera. Many are small and mouse-like, giving them the misnomer marsupial mice, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian Devil...

 family of carnivorous marsupials, which includes other species of quoll

Quoll

The quoll, or native cat, is a carnivorous marsupial native to mainland Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. It is primarily nocturnal and spends most of the day in its den. There are six species of quoll; four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea...

s, the extinct Thylacine

Thylacine

The thylacine or ,also ;binomial name: Thylacinus cynocephalus, Greek for "dog-headed pouched one") was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf...

, the Tasmanian Devil

Tasmanian Devil

The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, now found in the wild only on the Australian island state of Tasmania. The size of a small dog, it became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936...

 and many smaller carnivores. It is one of six extant species of quoll

Quoll

The quoll, or native cat, is a carnivorous marsupial native to mainland Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania. It is primarily nocturnal and spends most of the day in its den. There are six species of quoll; four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea...

s, four of which are found in only in Australia and two of which are restricted to New Guinea (the Bronze Quoll

Bronze Quoll

The Bronze Quoll is a species of quoll found only in the Trans Fly savanna and grasslands of New Guinea. It was discovered in the early 1970s when five specimens were collected, but only described in 1987 when Dr...

 is the other New Guinean species). Both the quolls found in New Guinea seem to be most closely related to the Australian Western Quoll

Western Quoll

The western quoll , also known as the chuditch or western native cat, is a medium sized predator and like its eastern and northern relatives, has a white-spotted brown coat and a long tail. It is most closely related to the eastern quoll from which it differs in possessing a first toe on the...

.

Description

The New Guinean Quoll is small, usually weighing just over 1 lb (0.45 kg). Its body is brown and the back spotted with white; the spots do not extend onto the lightly haired tail. It resembles a cat-like opossum; the quolls are also referred to as "native cats" and occasionally "marsupial cats" or "tiger cats". Its feet have transversely striated pads, which is likely to be an adaptation for grip and is indicative of a life spent in the trees. It lives throughout the forests of New Guinea at elevations up to 11,000 feet (3300 meters) but usually closer to 3,000 feet (900 meters). The population appears to be centered in the highlands of New Guinea.

Behaviour and diet

Quolls feed on a large range of prey including birds, rats and other marsupials, small reptiles and insects. They are reported to feed on prey larger than themselves. They are good climbers but also spend time on the forest floor. Although nocturnal, they spend the daylight hours basking in the sun. They nest in rocky banks, hollow logs or small caves. In captivity the longest recorded survival is 3 years, but their lifespan in the wild is unknown.

Threats

The numbers of New Guinean Quolls are believed to be decreasing as a result of human encroachment into their habitat and the associated loss of cover. Because they are known to scavenge, persecution by humans may be putting pressure on the population. They also face predation and competition from introduced species such as dogs, cats and foxes.

External links

• Photo of New Guinean quoll.