Phascogale | |
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Brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
Family: | Dasyuridae |
Subfamily: | Dasyurinae |
Tribe: | Phascogalini |
Genus: | Phascogale Temminck, 1824 |
Type species | |
Didelphis penicillata | |
Species | |
See text |
The phascogales (members of the eponymous genus Phascogale), also known as wambengers or mousesacks,[1] 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.[2] 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.