The Phascogales also known as Wambengers, are carnivorous Australian marsupials of the family 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...

. There are two species: the Brush-tailed Phascogale

Brush-tailed Phascogale

The Brush-tailed Phascogale , also known as the Tuan, the Common Wambenger or the Black-tailed Phascogale, is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, characterized by a tuft of black silky hairs on the terminal portion of its tail...

 (Phascogale tapoatafa) and the Red-tailed Phascogale

Red-tailed Phascogale

The Red-tailed Phascogale , also known as the Red-tailed Wambenger, is a small carnivorous marsupial found in central and western Australia...

 (Phascogale calura). As with a number of dasyurid species, the males live for only one year, dying after a period of frenzied mating. The term Phascogale was coined in 1824 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck

Coenraad Jacob Temminck

Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch aristocrat and zoologist.Temminck was the first director of the National Natural History Museum at Leiden from 1820 until his death. His Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Tableau systematique des oiseaux qui se trouvent en Europe was the standard work on European birds...

in reference to the Brush-tailed Phascogale, and means "pouched weasel".

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. Young stay in a pouch 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.

External links

• Brush-tailed Phascogale
• Brush-tailed Phascogale
• Red-tailed Phascogale
• Red-tailed Phascogale