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Tiger quoll
Carnivorous marsupial native to Australia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus), also known as the spotted-tailed quoll, spotted quoll, spotted-tailed dasyure, or tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia. With males and females weighing around 3.5 and 1.8 kg (7.7 and 4.0 lb), respectively, it is the world's second-largest extant carnivorous marsupial, behind the Tasmanian devil. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate is found in wet forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, and a northern subspecies, D. m. gracilis, is found in a small area of northern Queensland and is endangered.
Tiger quoll[1] | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
Family: | Dasyuridae |
Genus: | Dasyurus |
Species: | D. maculatus |
Binomial name | |
Dasyurus maculatus (Kerr, 1792) | |
Subspecies | |
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Range of the tiger quoll |
Tiger quolls commonly prey on small mammals, insects, birds, domestic poultry and large marsupials such as wombats. They hunt most of the food that they eat, though they sometimes scavenge when the opportunity arises. When hunting, tiger quolls launch their attack, executing a killing bite to the base of the skull or top of the neck, depending on the size of the prey. The species is listed as near-threatened on the IUCN Red List, and is primarily threatened by habitat loss caused by human activities.