Marsupial marten. Lifestyle and habitat of the marsupial marten. Speckled marsupial marten - the cutest creature from Tasmania (16 photos) Behavior and nutrition

This animal was once widespread throughout southeastern Australia, but could not compete with foxes, cats and dogs brought to the mainland and disappeared by the middle of the 20th century. The speckled marten hunted chickens, ducks and geese, which earned itself a condemnation from people who destroyed uninvited guests with the help of traps and poisoned baits.

And in vain, because the marten could help them get rid of rodents, insects and other pests. However, the epizootic of 1901-1903. completed all the unpleasant work for people, significantly reducing the number of these animals.

The Aborigines called the marsupial marten "kuol", which means "tiger cat". It was this word that the first settlers heard and called the unusual animal quoll. Of course, the animal is not comparable to a ferocious tiger, but it can be compared to a domestic cat. In any case, their sizes are similar - the body length of the quoll is approximately 45 cm, the tail is 30 cm, the height at the withers is about 15 cm, and the weight is 1.5 kg.

The fur color of the marsupial marten can range from black to yellowish brown. Light spots scattered throughout the body different shapes, and on the head they are much smaller than on the back and sides. The tail is plain, without specks, the belly is light. The elongated muzzle ends in a reddish sharp nose, medium-sized ears have rounded tips.

Quolls lead night image life. It is in the darkness that they hunt small mammals and ground birds, looking for their eggs and feasting on insects. Sometimes they eat dead animals that the sea washed up on land. From time to time they pay visits to nearby farms, where they mercilessly strangle domestic animals and generally behave extremely indecently: some individuals even steal meat and fat directly from the kitchens of local residents.

Maybe that’s why their gait is creeping and extremely cautious, but their movements are lightning fast. Speckled marsupial martens spend most of their time on the ground; they climb trees poorly and reluctantly.

Unless they can climb up an inclined trunk if they really need to. When it gets especially hot, quolls huddle in caves, in crevices among stones and in tree hollows, where they drag soft, dry grass and bark.

Their breeding season lasts from May to September - during the Australian winter. One female usually gives birth to 4 or more cubs (in captivity there was even a case recorded when one lady brought 24 babies at once), but only those who were the first to reach the mother’s nipple and hang on it survive. The speckled marten has only 6 teats in its pouch, so it's easy to guess how many babies will survive.

The quoll's brood pouch has nothing in common with the kangaroo's: it develops only during the breeding season and is turned back towards the tail. The babies stay in it for about 8 weeks, and then hide in the den while the mother goes hunting.

If necessary, they travel on her back. At the age of 18-20 weeks, the grown quolls leave their mother. Speckled marsupial martens, along with other Australian species, are listed in the International Red Book.

The marsupial marten is the second largest marsupial predator in Australia, second only to . The species received its name due to some similarities with the true cat and marten. Additionally, the animal is also known as a "quoll" or tiger cat.

The body length of the marsupial marten is from 25 to 75 cm, the tail is 20-60 cm long, the weight varies widely from 900 g (for Dasyurus hallucatus) to 4-7 kg (for Dasyurus maculatus). Females are smaller in size. The fur is short, thick and soft; the tail is covered with longer hair. The ears are small. The tail is strong and thick.

The back and sides of the animal are gray-yellow to black with white spots, the belly is white, gray or yellow. Females have 6-8 nipples. The brood pouch opens backwards. The canines and molars are well developed.

The marsupial marten goes hunting at night. Its diet is quite varied. It features reptiles, birds and their eggs, rabbits and other small mammals. Great power and its size allows the animal to hunt also larger animals (tree possum, heron, young wallaby). Brave and agile, the marsupial marten becomes cautious and patient when necessary.

Since this species lives in forests, climbing tree trunks, they destroy the nests of birds, guard the latter among the branches, or catch them directly in flight. They can also hunt sleeping birds.

The marsupial marten lives in eastern Australia and on the island of Tasmania, is under protection, and is quite rare. This animal primarily chooses to live in rainy, cool forests and thickets along the banks of reservoirs.

Common species of marsupial marten

Widely distributed on the island New Guinea, where it lives in high mountain areas at altitudes up to 3600 m above sea level. In addition, it lives on the Yapen Islands in humid tropical forests. In garden plots he hunts for rats.

The smallest species of its genus with a body length from 240 to 350 mm, the tail length ranges from 210 to 310 mm. Average weight 450 g. The coat is thick and coarse, with a slight undercoat. The back is brown with white spots. The tail is dark brown or black.

This species is now found exclusively in eucalyptus forests in southwest Western Australia. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Natural environment Habitats include deserts, meadows, sclerophyte forests, and coastal areas with thickets of bushes.

The weight of adult males is 0.7-2 kg, females - 0.6-1.12 kg. The body length of males is from 310 to 400 mm, for females - from 260 to 360 mm. The tail of males is 250-350 mm long, females - 210-310 mm. The fur is soft. The back and sides are brown or black, with white spots. The belly is creamy white. The muzzle is elongated, pointed, light. The ears are large, round in shape, with a white border. The eyes are large. The legs are short.

Small view with males weighing up to 900 g, and body length ranging from 25-35 cm. The coat is short and coarse, gray-brown or gray, with white spots; the tip of the tail is black.

Previously, the species was distributed over a fairly wide range from the Pilbara in western Australia to south-east Queensland, but its habitat has now been reduced to a few isolated areas in northern Australia. The northern marsupial marten lives in rocky areas or in eucalyptus forests near the coast. The species is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

A large variety of marsupial martens with a body length of about 60-75 cm, a tail length of 50 cm, and a weight of up to 7 kg. The fur is dark brown in color and differs from other species in having white spots on the tail, which is reflected in the name of the species.

The spotted-tailed marsupial marten now consists of two isolated populations - in northern Queensland (near Cairns and Cooktown) and in the east from southern Queensland to Tasmania. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

This is the only mammal that lives on the island of New Guinea in the Fly River basin in the south of the island. Its natural habitat is savanna woodland. During the rainy season, the range noticeably decreases due to river floods.

The body length is from 350 to 450 mm, the tail is from 240 to 285 mm in length. The wool is soft and golden brown. The back is dark chocolate with orange and small white spots. The belly is creamy. The paws are dark golden-bronze in color. The tail is yellowish-brown or black without spots. The muzzle is pointed. The ears are small and round in shape.

The species reaches 45 cm in length, the tail is about 30 cm long, and its weight is approximately 1.5 kg. The coat is colored from black to yellowish-brown; white spots cover the entire body except for the bushy tail with a white tip. The muzzle is pointed.

The species is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

In all species of marsupial marten, sexual dimorphism is manifested in the fact that males exceed females in size.

Marsupial martens are active mainly at night and lead a solitary lifestyle. During the day they go out in search of food extremely rarely. Animals spend a lot of time among trees or their fallen trunks at the bottom of the tropical forest.

The marsupial marten is a skilled hunter. She kills her prey with lightning speed with a blow to the neck or head.

The mating season of the marsupial marten occurs at the beginning of winter once a year, but after the loss of offspring, the animal can also mate again. The duration of pregnancy is about 20 days, after which 4-6 cubs are born. After 7-10 weeks, the female leaves them in the shelter and goes hunting. If it is necessary to change the shelter, the female can carry the babies on her back. At the end of autumn, when the cubs reach the age of 18 weeks, they become independent, and at 1 year they become sexually mature. The lifespan of the species in captivity is 3-4 years.

Previously, the marsupial marten was common in the southeast of Australia, but after the epizootics of 1901-1903 and due to uncontrolled destruction, their numbers began to decrease, and now the species has practically disappeared from the continent, but they are still common in Tasmania.

• The marsupial marten is a ferocious predator, strong enough to take on cats and dogs if necessary.
• This is a real arboreal animal in its image and character of life. It has well-developed thumbs and the structure of its paws allows it to firmly grasp branches and tree trunks.
• In relation to people, marsupial martens behave secretly and timidly. But at the same time, he is one of the most militant residents of Australia and Tasmania.

Body length 25-75 cm, tail 20-60 cm; weight varies from 900 g ( Dasyurus hallucatus) up to 4-7 kg ( Dasyurus maculatus). Females are smaller. The body hair is usually short, dense and soft; the tail is covered more long hair. The ears are relatively small. The color on the back and sides is from gray-yellow to black with numerous white spots; on the belly - white, gray or yellow. Females have 6-8 nipples. The brood pouch develops only during the breeding season and opens back towards the tail; the rest of the time it is represented by folds of skin that limit the milky field in front and on the sides. Well developed canines and molars.

Spreading

6 species of this genus are distributed in Australia, Tasmania and Papua New Guinea. They live both in forests and on open plains. Their lifestyle is predominantly terrestrial, but they climb trees and rocks well. Active at night, rarely seen during the day. Refuge during the day is provided by cracks among stones, caves, and hollows of fallen trees, where spotted marsupial martens drag dry grass and bark.

Nutrition

Carnivorous, feeding on small mammals (the size of a rabbit), birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, freshwater crustaceans and insects; They also eat carrion and fruit. After the colonization of Australia, introduced species began to be hunted; on the one hand, spotted marsupial martens cause some harm, destroying chicken coops (one of the reasons for the reduction in their numbers was their extermination by farmers), on the other hand, they are useful animals that destroy insect pests, rats, mice and rabbits.

Reproduction

Outside the breeding season they lead a solitary lifestyle. They breed once a year, in the Australian winter - from May to July. Pregnancy lasts 16-24 days. There are 2-8 cubs in a litter, although there are up to 24-30. The number of spotted marsupial martens in Australia has greatly decreased due to epizootics of the early 20th century, habitat destruction, extermination by humans and food competition with introduced predators (cats, dogs, foxes), but they are still quite numerous in Tasmania and New Guinea. All Australian species are listed in the International Red Book.

Kinds

• New Guinea marsupial marten ( Dasyurus albopunctatus), found in New Guinea;
• Black-tailed marsupial marten ( Dasyurus geoffroii), has disappeared everywhere except eucalyptus forests in the south-west of Western Australia, although it was originally widespread in eastern and southern Australia, as well as in desert areas of Central Australia; listed in

Russian name– Speckled marsupial marten (quoll)

Latin name– Dasyurus viverrinus

English name – Eastern quoll (Eastern native cat)

Squad– Carnivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia)

Family– Carnivorous marsupials (Dasyu idae)

Genus– Spotted marsupial martens (Dasyurus)

The Latin name for this species, Viverrinus dasyurus, translates to “Ferret-like animal with a bushy tail.”

Status of the species in nature

The species is listed in the International Red Book as close to vulnerable UICN (Near threatened).

Is under protection federal law, although in the state of Tasmania, where the species is still common, a law on its protection has not yet appeared.

The main enemies of quolls are stray cats, which actively compete with them for food and displace marsupial martens from their usual habitats. Dog attacks, death under the wheels of cars, illegal hunting using poisoned baits and traps also contribute to the decline in the species' numbers. However, the reasons for the extinction of speckled marsupial martens in mainland Australia are not entirely clear. The biology of the species has been studied quite well, but the same cannot be said about the diseases of these animals. A sharp decline in the number of the species was caused, among other things, by outbreaks of diseases in 1901-1903.

Perhaps in Tasmania the species was saved from complete extinction by the fact that there are no dingoes or foxes in this state.

In mainland Australia (Nielsen Park in the Sydney suburb of Vaucluse), the last specimen of a spotted quoll (hit by a car and killed) was obtained on January 31, 1963. Until 1999, the National Environmental Service was repeatedly informed that animals were seen in the vicinity of Sydney, but this data was not documented. The quolls captured west of Melbourne, Victoria, are likely associated with a nearby conservation research center - either animals that escaped from the center or their descendants. In 2015, a small group of quolls were released for reintroduction into a protected area near Canberra (mainland).

Species and man

The first description of the speckled marsupial marten appeared at the end of the 18th century and was given by the traveler James Cook.

After the colonization of Australia, quolls began to hunt poultry, rabbits, and although rats and mice also became their victims, farmers still exterminated them for ruining poultry houses. Less than a hundred years ago, back in the 1930s, speckled marsupial martens were frequent guests in Australian gardens and even took up residence in the attics of suburban houses.

Distribution and habitats

In the past, the species ranged across both Tasmania and mainland Australia - including South Australia (from the southern tip of the Flinders Ranges to the Fleurieu Peninsula), Victoria and New South Wales to the mid-north coast. Currently, the range has decreased, according to various sources, by 50-90%. Currently, wild quolls remain only in Tasmania and Bruny Island in the Tasman Sea (where the species was introduced). In Tasmania, quolls are quite common, but even there their distribution is rather patchy.

Appearance

The quoll is a small animal, comparable in size to a cat. It is not surprising that common English name The species is translated as “eastern native cat.” The body size of males is 32-45 cm, females are slightly smaller - 28-40 cm. Tail length for males is 20-28 cm, for females from 17 to 24 cm. Males also weigh slightly more: from 0.9 to 2 kg, then as the weight of females is from 0.7 to 1.1 kg.

These are animals with a long body and short limbs. The four-toed hind limbs lack the first digits, which distinguishes quolls from other species of spotted marsupial martens. The head is narrow, conical with a pointed muzzle and erect, rounded ears.

The color of the soft, thick fur can vary, from almost black to quite light. There are two color variations: one is lighter, yellowish yellow with a white belly, the other is dark, almost black, with a brownish belly. Light coloring is more common, but cubs in the same litter may be differently colored. Whatever the color of the fur, quolls have a pattern of white spots with a diameter of 5 to 20 mm scattered throughout their entire body, except for the tail. The tail is long, fluffy, with a white tip.

Females have a relatively fur-covered shallow pocket formed by folds of skin. IN mating season the pocket enlarges, 6 or 8 teats become visible inside, which elongate and begin to function only if the cub is attached to it. After the young emerge from the pouch, the nipples decrease in size again.

Lifestyle and social behavior

Quolls prefer to live alone. These are nocturnal predators that hunt on the ground and in general, although they are excellent at climbing trees, where they are more likely to skip and run.

Quolls spend daytime in burrows, crevices between stones or tree hollows. Their burrows are simple, without branches or a second exit, although sometimes more complex ones are found, with one or more nesting chambers lined with grass. Each quoll has several burrows, usually no more than five, and uses them in turn.

The animals try to avoid each other, although sometimes researchers have encountered pairs of two sexually mature females. Individual ranges are large, averaging 35 hectares for females and 44 hectares for males, with males' range area increasing sharply during the mating season. Owners mark the boundaries of the property with scent marks.

Adults scare away aliens by hissing at them and making various sounds. If for some reason the uninvited guest does not leave immediately, the owner moves from preventive measures to attack - rising on his hind legs, he chases the enemy and tries to bite.

Nutrition and feeding behavior

Quolls are carnivores whose main food is insects, mainly beetle larvae. However, quolls do not have a narrow food specialization; small animals, birds, lizards and snakes often also become their prey. After colonizing Australia, they began to hunt poultry, rabbits, rats and mice, and were exterminated by farmers for ruining poultry houses. They are also known to pick up leftover food from another predator, the Tasmanian devil - they deftly snatch small pieces right from under the noses of larger devils. Quolls have a very close relationship with this species: Tasmanian devil(along with human-introduced foxes, feral dogs and cats) is the quoll's main food competitor. Quolls themselves serve as prey for Tasmanian devils and Australian barn owls.

Although animal food forms the basis of the quoll diet, their diet still includes a plant supplement - animals all year round readily eat green parts of plants, and in summer time feast on ripening fruits.

Vocalization

Aggressive quolls hiss, make sounds reminiscent of coughing, and also make piercing, sharp cries - alarm signals.

Mothers and cubs communicate with each other by making quieter sounds.

Reproduction and raising of offspring

Quolls breed in early winter, from May to August. After a pregnancy lasting 20-24 days (average 21 days), the female gives birth to 4-8 cubs. There are sometimes up to 30 cubs in a litter,

However, she has only 6 nipples in her pouch, so only the first newborns survive - those who managed to get to the pouch and grab the nipples first. After 8 weeks, the cubs leave the pouch and the females take refuge in the den during the hunt. If necessary, the female carries them on her back. At the age of 10 weeks, the babies leave the pouch, and the female leaves them in a grass-lined burrow or shallow hole, while she begins to move away to hunt or find some food. If for some reason it is necessary to move to another hole, the female carries the cubs on her back.

At five months of age, around the end of November, when there is enough food, the young begin to feed on their own. As long as the female takes care of the children, their mortality rate is quite low. However, grown animals scatter, and many die in the first months of independent life.

Quolls reach sexual maturity at the end of their first year.

Lifespan

Life expectancy in nature is up to 3-5 years. The maximum recorded lifespan in captivity is 6 years and 10 months.

Animal in the Moscow Zoo

Speckled marsupial martens appeared at the Moscow Zoo quite recently, in 2015. Before this, in none of Russian zoos there were no quolls.

To save speckled marsupial martens from extinction, it was decided to try to learn how to keep and breed them in captivity. This was done by zoologists at the Leipzig Zoo (Germany). Their work was crowned with success - their quolls reproduce regularly and feel great. Several years ago, our employees were in Leipzig, and they liked these cute marsupials so much that they began to find out whether it was possible to have them at the Moscow Zoo. It turned out to be not so simple. After all, in order to get approval for maintenance certain type animals, the zoo must first prove that it is capable of creating all the conditions necessary for it. As for quolls, for example, it was very important for them not to disturb the light regime characteristic of Australia, since otherwise the females of this species stop reproducing. The Moscow Zoo was able to fulfill all the requirements of its German colleagues, and was put in line: we were far from the only contenders for these rare marsupials, because besides Leipzig, eastern quolls are kept in only a few European zoos. They have not yet been brought to our country, and the Moscow Zoo was the first among all Russian zoos to receive speckled marsupial martens.

Quolas arrived to us in June 2015. And as many as six pieces! Two males and four females, one of which had already reached old age and was unlikely to participate in reproduction. When the animals arrived in Moscow, their breeding season was already coming to an end. But to our surprise, after some time, mating was recorded; in marsupial martens it can last up to several hours, so it is not difficult for zoo workers who regularly check their pets to notice it. During mating, the male holds the female by the sides with his front paws, and grabs the withers with his teeth, so tightly that the female’s hair falls out on her neck and a small wound may even form (for Australian colleagues, this is a sign of successful mating). After mating, we placed the female separately so that no one would disturb her. The gestation period of eastern quolls is 20-24 days; like all marsupials, quoll cubs are born measuring only 5 mm in size and weighing 12.5 mg. Somehow, these “almost embryos” manage to crawl into their mother’s pouch on their own. And then in July we saw the cubs already in the pouch! They were so tiny that when we first checked the bag, for fear of disturbing the young mother for a long time, we couldn’t even count them. Subsequently, it turned out that there were five cubs, some of them black, some brown (which is not surprising, because their mother is brown and their father is black). Quolves can have up to 30 embryos, but since the female has only six nipples, she can feed no more than six babies. So it turns out that only those cubs survive that manage to get to the mother’s pouch first. Each of them attaches to its own nipple and remains in the pouch for about 60-65 days. Babies develop wool at the age of 51-59 days; eyes open at 79-80 days; teeth begin to emerge at approximately 90 days. From about 85 days, when the cubs are already completely covered with hair, but still depend on their mother, they begin to go out with her to hunt at night. At the same time, they often cling to the female’s back, but gradually the coordination of their movements improves, and they become more and more independent. At 105 days of age, the cubs begin to eat solid food, but the female continues to feed them milk until 150-165 days. In nature, the mortality rate of cubs is very low while they remain with their mother, but increases sharply in the first 6 months of their independent life. By the end of the first year, young quolls become sexually mature. In general, their lifespan is relatively short compared to placental mammals of the same size. In zoos, marsupial martens live up to 5-7 years, but in nature they live no more than 3-4. So females of 1-2 years of age usually take part in reproduction (at 3 years they are already considered elderly).

Now all five of our cubs look almost like adults. They have become completely tame - however, they only trust those people who feed them. Now on display in the “Night World” you can see three young, very active males.

We offer you a poem dedicated to the quoll by the Australian poet David Wonsbrough from the collection “The Living Alphabet of Australia”.

The marsupial martenQWALL is a great aristocrat.

He found an area he liked and was happy to live in.

He lived in Vaucluse*, according to the “all inclusive” system**.

But times have changed - and how scary life has become!

There are stray cats all around, and when it gets dark

There are so many cars that Quall panics:

“Look, they’ll play me like a ball in football.

And these cats are disgusting - what a mess, without a bag!

Let’s come here in large numbers, you simple idiots.”

Quall sighs sadly: “My thought is simple:

I’m afraid this rabble will ruin the best places!”

*Vaucluse is an area in Sydney where quolls were still found in the 1960s.

**All inclusive - all inclusive.

The speckled marsupial is another the brightest representative animal world of Australia. More recently, it was widespread everywhere, but due to human intervention in its places natural habitat, as well as uncontrolled hunting, the marsupial marten population has declined sharply, and today it can only be found in Tasmania. The nasty character of the marten itself, which actively destroyed domestic chickens and ducks, also played a huge role in this. Farmers had no choice but to set traps on it and throw poisoned baits. But the main reason for the decline in the marsupial marten population is the widespread infectious disease, which completed the work people started. Such a sharp decrease in the number of animals led to an increase in the number of rodents and harmful insects, which the marten actively destroyed.

Local residents call the marsupial marten "kuol", which translates as tiger - cat. And there is nothing strange about this. to his appearance and in its habits it resembles a cat, and its speckled body resembles a tiger. The body length of an adult animal is less than half a meter. The height at the withers is no more than 15 centimeters. The predator weighs about two kilograms.

The body is covered with thick fur. Depending on the habitat, it can be either brown or black, with a number of light spots irregular shape. They are absent only on the tail of the animal. The small, neat, and slightly elongated muzzle ends in a red nose. The ears are small, slightly rounded.

The speckled marsupial marten is a nocturnal animal. She rests during the day and goes hunting at night. Its diet includes: birds and their eggs, insects, small mammals, rodents, carrion. It can climb into people's homes and steal food stored for the winter. At the same time, the marten tries to remain invisible and act with lightning speed. The predator can also climb trees, but it does so clumsily and extremely rarely. During the day, the marten hides in caves, rocky crevices, empty tree hollows, and abandoned earthen burrows.

Can reproduce from early spring before late autumn. The female's brood pouch, which contains the babies, has only six nipples. For this reason, only six cubs survive. The rest simply die. As for the brood pouch itself, it appears in the female only during her pregnancy. The born babies stay in it for two months, and then move to the den. At the age of six months they become completely independent.

Currently, the speckled marsupial marten is listed in the Red Book and is under state protection.