Brush-tailed Phascogale

MammalAustralia

Jan 4

Phascogale tapoatafa

The brush-tailed phascogale is a carnivorous, tree-climbing marsupial from Australia. It is able to erect the long, black hairs on the end portion of its tail — this 'bottle-brush' tail is used to draw a predator's attention away from its body.

This arboreal critter scuttles through eucalyptus trees; most comfortable in dry, open hill forests. It is a miniature killer — 16 to 23 cm (6.3 - 9 in) in head and body length — that emerges at night. Its grey, squirrel-like form bounds agilely through the branches, gripping on with sharp claws. Its mousy face, with large black eyes and a short pointed snout ending in a tiny pink nose, sniffs and searches for its prey. Primarily an insectivore, it snatches up cockroaches, spiders, centipedes, and moths. It also hunts small lizards, mammals, and birds — there have even been reports of brush-tailed phascogales killing and eating chickens. This hunter will supplement its carnivorous diet with an occasional sweet treat; the nectar of eucalyptus flowers.

A Fuzzy Defense

A brush-tailed phascogale distracts predators with its tail.

A tail about as long as its body sweeps about behind it. The portion closer to the body is covered in short grey fur, like the rest of its body. However, the terminal two-thirds of the tail sprouts into a 'bottle-brush' of black fur. When confronted by a predator, say an invasive red fox or feral cat, this tail fur can be erected into a sizable mass, drawing the predator's attention away from the body of the brush-tailed phascogale. This small critter can also be quite confrontational and defensive. If disturbed, it will hiss in alarm. If confronted, it will make a series of chit-chit noises and stamp its front paws while rattling its tail.

Widespread But Rare

Even born and raised in Australia, you may never have heard of the brush-tailed phascogale. However, it is a surprisingly widespread species, but its populations have been fragmented into far-flung corners of the country — confined to the remaining viable habitats and isolated from one another. Three separate populations exist in northern Australia; one on the Cape York Peninsula, one on the top end of the North Territory, and in Kimberley at the top of Western Australia. Other populations exist in the forests of east and southeast Australia, while an isolated fragment is found in the southwest near Perth. You can see a map here.

These disparate populations — and the brush-tailed phascogales 'Near Threatened' conservation status — are brought about mostly by habitat destruction and fragmentation. Cutting forests for timber, clearing for agriculture, or disturbing for mining has impoverished this critter's habitat. Foreign predators, the two aforementioned being the major killers, invade the phascogales remaining habitats and further decimate populations. The result is their disappearance from more than half of their previous home range. These phascogales may be widespread, but their densities are low.
If you live in an area that is host to the species, you can follow some of the conservation tips laid out here!

No Rodent

A phylogenetic tree ¹ of the order Dasyuromorphia based on mitochondrial genome sequences.

Even though the phascogale may be referred to as a marsupial mouse, it is not a rodent. It may act like a squirrel and look like a squirrel (one with a weirdly tapered snout and half a balding tail) but the phascogale is actually a marsupial — not at all closely related to the rodent tree climbers of the rest of the world. Neither does it share such a close relation to other squirrely marsupials of Australia. Sugar gliders may seem superficially similar in their rodent-like appearance and behaviour — being arboreal and nocturnal — but the sweet-toothed gliders are in a completely different order of marsupials (Diprotodontia; which includes some of Australia's best-known animals like kangaroos, possums, koala, and wombats). Phascogales on the other hand belong to Dasyuromorphia, an order comprising most of Australia's marsupial carnivores (which are less well known). This means the brush-tailed phascogale, and the two other phascogale species, are more closely related to quolls, dunnarts, numbats, Tasmanian devils, and the extinct thylacine. Other names for this trio of dasyurids include the wambengers and mousesacks. The brush-tailed is also known by the native Australian name 'tuan'.

Life in the Fast Lane

A mother brush-tailed phascogale with her almost grown-up joey.

In the marsupial fashion, brush-tailed phascogale young are born tiny and underdeveloped, after only 30 days, and the litter of 7 to 8 joeys remain in the pouch (although not a true pouch; more like a heavy, hairy fold of skin) for 7 weeks. The joeys shelter in their mother's nest — in a tree hollow or a hollow stump — until around 5 months of age. Although this abode isn't permanent, since a female may nest in as many as 30 different sites in a single year.

A female takes about a year to sexually mature, and about half a year to raise a litter of young. With a fleeting two-year lifespan, she usually only manages to raise one, maybe two litters before she dies. Although this is arguably a better lot than what a male gets. After breeding at the age of 11 - 12 months, a male will seldom live much longer — death is brought about by the energy expended in mating competition leading to stress and vulnerability to disease. The brush-tailed phascogale is the largest known mammal in which the male dies after his first breeding season.

**Where Does It Live?**

⛰️ Found in many wooded habitats but prefers open dry foothill forest with little ground cover.
📍 Widespread but fragmented distribution throughout all states of Australia. ²

Size // Small
Length // 16 - 23 cm (6.3 - 9 in) body + 17 - 22 cm (6.7 - 8.7 in) tail
Weight // 110 - 311 g (3.9 - 11 oz)
Activity: Nocturnal 🌙
Lifestyle: Solitary 👤
Lifespan: 2 years (female), < 1 years (male)
Diet: Omnivore
Class: Mammalia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Phascogale
Species: P. tapoatafa

The brush-tailed phascogale is the largest known mammal species in which the male dies after his first breeding season. After a season of intense competition, a male, having bred for the first time at the age of 11 or 12 months, will pass away.
A mother brush-tailed phascogale may nest in as many as 30 different sites in a single year.
It uses its uniquely furred tail as a distraction — drawing a predator's attention away from its body and onto its swaying or rattling tail.
This species is fragmented into many disparate populations throughout Australia (along the coast), where it lives in dry, open hill forests.
Despite its appearance, it isn't a rodent (placental mammal). It is a marsupial, but not one closely related to other squirrely marsupials (like the sugar glider), it is instead a relative of the carnivorous marsupials like quolls and the Tasmanian devil.