Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Brush-tailed Phascogale
The Brush-tailed Phascogale (Phascogale tapaotafa) is a rat-sized, arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the order Dasyurid, characterized by a tuft of black silky hairs on the terminal portion of the tail. It has a widespread but fragmented distribution throughout all states of Australia, excluding Tasmania. All males die before reaching one year of age, generally from stress related diseases brought about by the energy expended in a bout of frenzied mating. Females nest in hollow trees, bearing litters of 7 to 8 young which stay in the nest to the age of 5 months. As a result of habitat destruction and predation by the red fox and feral cat, they are believed to have disappeared from roughly half of their former range.
External links
Page from the National Parks and Wildlife Service of New South Wales, Australia
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