Western Quoll
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| Dasyurus geoffroii Gould, 1841 |
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 Western Quoll range
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The Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii), also known as the Chuditch or Western Native Cat, is a vulnerable Australian dasyuromorph, whose distribution is now confined to south-western Western Australia.
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[edit] Taxonomy
The Western Quoll was described by John Gould in 1841, when it was still widespread throughout the continent. Its species name, geoffroii, refers to the prominent French naturalist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, who named the genus Dasyurus in 1796. The species has sometimes been placed in the genus Dasyurinus.[3]
The Western Quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae and is most closely related to the Bronze Quoll (Dasyurus spartacus), a recently described species from New Guinea that was for some time believed to be an outlying population of the Western Quoll.
Two subspecies of the Western Quoll are recognised:[3]
- D. g. geoffroii, found in inland Australia (now extinct)
- D. g. fortis, found in south-western Western Australia
[edit] Description
The Western Quoll is a medium-sized quoll that is coloured a rufous brown on its upperparts with white spots and a creamy white below. It has five toes on its hindfoot and granular pads.[3]
The Western Quoll is a solitary, nocturnal predator which is mostly terrestrial, although it does climb trees. It has a diet of small vertebrates, carrion, arthropods and freshwater crayfish, among other things. The breeding season is from April-July.[4]
The head and body average about 330 mm in length, with the tail averaging another 280mm. An individual can weight up to 2 kg with males being slightly heavier.[5]
[edit] Habitat
The Western Quoll was formerly found throughout most of inland Australia, reaching areas of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is now restricted to the south-western corner of Western Australia, where it inhabits wet and dry sclerophyll forests and mallee.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 25. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Australasian Marsupial & Monotreme Specialist Group (1996). Dasyurus geoffroii. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Vulnerable (VU C1 v2.3)
- ^ a b c Serena, M. & Soderquist, T. (1995), “Western Quoll”, in Strahan, Ronald, The Mammals of Australia, Reed Books, pp. 62-64
- ^ a b Menkhorst, Peter (2001). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, 48.
- ^ Chudditch (Western Quoll) (Dasyurus geoffroyi). australianfauna.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
