Phascogale
Genus of marsupials
title: "Phascogale" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dasyuromorphs", "marsupials-of-australia", "marsupial-genera", "taxa-named-by-coenraad-jacob-temminck"] description: "Genus of marsupials" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phascogale" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of marsupials ::
| image = Phascogale tapoatafa 311671645.jpg | image_caption = Brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa) | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Phascogale | authority = Temminck, 1824 | type_species = Didelphis penicillata | type_species_authority = Shaw, 1800 (= Vivera tapoatafa, F. Meyer, 1793 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text
The phascogales (members of the eponymous genus Phascogale), also known as wambengers or mousesacks, 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. 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.
Phylogeny
The following is a phylogenetic tree based on mitochondrial genome sequences: |label1=Dasyuromorphia |1={{clade |1=Thylacinus (thylacine)[[File:Thylacinus cynocephalus white background.jpg|80 px]] |2={{clade |1=Myrmecobius (numbat)[[File:A hand-book to the marsupialia and monotremata (Plate XXX) (white background).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1=Sminthopsis (dunnarts)[[File:The zoology of the voyage of the H.M.S. Erebus and Terror (Sminthopsis leucopus).jpg|60 px]] |2={{clade |1=Phascogale (wambengers)[[File:Phascogale calura Gould white background.jpg|60 px]] |2=Dasyurus (quolls)[[File:Dasyurus viverrinus Gould white background.jpg|60 px]]}} }} }} }} }}
Species
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Phascogale_calura_(cropped).jpg" caption="Captive ''P. calura''"] ::
The genus consists of the following three species: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| [[File:Phascogale 4.jpg | 120px]] | Brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale tapoatafa |
| [[File:Phascogale calura close.jpg | 120px]] | Red-tailed phascogale – Phascogale calura |
| Northern brush-tailed phascogale – Phascogale pirata | northern Australia. | |
| :: |
Life cycle
Mating generally happens between May and July. All males die soon after mating. Females give birth to about 6 young ones about 30 days after mating. Phascogales do not have the true pouch that is found in most other marsupials https://web.archive.org/web/20140109052904/http://www.arkive.org/brush-tailed-phascogale/phascogale-tapoatafa/http://www.marsupialsociety.org.au/keeping-marsupials-dasyurids.html. Instead, they form temporary folds of skin - sometimes called a "pseudo-pouch" http://jeb.biologists.org/content/205/24/3775.full.pdf around the mammary glands during pregnancy. Young stay in this pseudo-pouch area, nursing for about 7 weeks before being moved to a nest where they stay until they are weaned at about 20 weeks of age. Females live for about 3 years, and generally produce one litter.
References
References
- [https://themooraboolnews.com.au/?p=6892 A Hollow Victory] - The Morabool News
- (18 October 2010). "Borrowings from Australian Aboriginal Languages".
- (February 2009). "The mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tasmanian tiger (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'')". Genome Res..
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