Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dasyurids

Yep, going off on my reading up on small furry animals again. DIbblers, mulgaras, phascogales and planigales I say unto you.

Meet the Australian micropredators! all these guys are small carnivorous marsupials belonging to Dasyuromorphia, which is the same order as quolls, numbats and Tasmanian devils and most of the other carnivorous marsupials (with exceptions). Among these species, there's quite a strong family resemblance to some of the larger relatives. To me at least, Mulgaras look a bit like what i imagine would happen if you shrunk a quoll and removed the spots.

Here's a picture of a western quoll as a reminder of what they look like...

Going off the number of rat sized, carnivorous mammals, this is obviously a good niche to occupy. Tragically, all the following species are threatened by extinction as is the case with so many native species from Australia.

Planigales are the smallest of all marsupials, some species weighing in at less than 5 grams and less than half the size of a mouse, yet notoriously ferocious for their size.

Being so small, in addition to being largely nocturnal and reclusive means they're easily missed and as a result, we don't know a lot about them. It's also apparently quite difficult to differentiate between certain species.

Mating season usually takes place in the wet season, wherein they engage in obscenely prolonged shagathon with multiple partners with sessions lasting between 2-4 hours.

The dibbler sounds like something you'd find in the freezer isle made from reconstituted chicken, but they're infact a small, semi-arborial marsupial found on the Western coastal part of southern Western Australia. They they have large canine teeth which they use to dispatch mice, lizards and birds but they'll also feed on insects, nectar from flowering plants and berries.

They were once much more widespread through Western Australia but the species declined so much they were declared extinct in the 1880s, only to be rediscovered in 1967. They're still classed as endangered with dieback and land clearance and feral cats and foxes being major culprits.

Mulgara are little rat sized guys, feed mainly on insects with small mammals and reptiles thrown in for good measure and adapted to living in the harsh, arid conditions of the desert and spinifex.

Because they rarely get to drink, the mulgaras kidneys produce highly concentrated pee to preserve water. They also go into torpor on a daily basis, with pregnant females using this to increase their body fat so they can produce lots of milk and raise lots of big, fat babies. There are 6 species of Mulgara, three of which were recently discovered and of those, three may already have gone extinct, because of course they fucking have.

Phascogales are a genus of three arboreal ratsized species, most closely related to quolls. Their name apparently means pouched weasel.

Like a number of other small dasyurids, the males last about year, where upon they die of exhaustion having shagged themselves to death. The girls on the other hand will usually have a single litter of babies and live about 3 years.

Dunnarts. I couldn't leave this post without mentioning dunnarts, of which there are 19 species, all of which are ridiculously cute. Dunnarts are found in a variety of habitat including sand scrublands, desert and forest. They're found in Australia and new guina. Like other species I previously mentioned, they use torpor.

This is a fat tailed dunnart. Just... look at it! Look how obscenely cute it is! On the off chance that any aussies are reading these, protect these little buggers at all costs.

Have you ever seen such a cute little set of sharp, perfectly miniature carnivorous teeth? These guys are classed as least concern but the species is apparently in decline.

#Dasyurids #dasyuromorphia #australian animals

Tasmanian devil! They hunt small game (birds, snakes, and mammals) and will also eat carrion - their jaws are strong enough to crush bone! Since the thylacine (or Tasmanian tiger) went extinct in 1936, the devil is the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world. They’re named for their horrible screeching, growling, wailing sounds. Also, they are very cute. :-)

[ID: an illustration of a Tasmanian devil on a yellow background surrounded by bones. The devil is looking toward the viewer with a happy expression. The illustration is followed by a video of two devils confronting and screaming at each other. End.]

#devils #Tasmanian devils #marsupials #dasyurids #animals #daily creature #Youtube

Are Quolls related to the Tasmanian Tiger or are they a different clade?

They're not super closely related. Actually, quolls are much more closely related to Tasmanian devils, they both belong to the clade Dasyurini!

Thylacines don't come into the picture until you zoom out to Dasyuromorphia, the clade that's essentially the marsupial equivalent of Carnivora in placental mammals. Quolls and Tasmanian devils are in here, but you'll also find weird guys like numbats and lots of little mousey things like dunnarts and planigales!

Left to right, top to bottom: Thylacine, Tasmanian devil, tiger quoll, numbat, yellow-footed antechinus, fat-tailed dunnart

#thylacine #quoll #dasyurids #marsupials