Speckled marsupial marten, or eastern quoll Dasyurus viverrinus. Speckled marsupial marten - the cutest creature from Tasmania (16 photos) Listen to the voice of the speckled marsupial marten

speckled marsupial marten belongs to the family of predatory marsupials. These animals live in Tasmania. These martens once lived throughout southeastern Australia, but foxes, dogs and cats brought to the mainland in the 20th century exterminated the speckled marsupial martens.

In addition, these animals hunted poultry, and therefore people began to destroy them by setting traps and laying out poisoned baits.

And this is completely in vain, since martens destroy rodents, insects and other pests. However, in 1901 an epidemic occurred, and it completed their work for people - the number of speckled marsupial martens decreased significantly.

Local residents called these animals “kuol”, which translates as “tiger cat”, and the settlers, having heard this name, began to call the speckled martens “quolls”. Naturally, the speckled marsupial marten is very far from the bloodthirsty tiger, but it has a lot in common with the domestic cat. First of all, they have almost identical dimensions - the marten’s body length is about 45 centimeters, the height at the withers is 15 centimeters, the tail length is 30 centimeters, and the weight is about 1.5 kilograms.

The color of this animal varies from yellowish-brown to black. The whole body is covered with light spots of various shapes, while on the back and sides the spots are much larger than on the head.

The tail has a uniform color without specks. The belly is light. The speckled marten has an elongated muzzle with a cute, sharp nose. The ears are medium in size, rounded in shape.

These animals lead night look life, in the dark it is easier for them to catch a small mammal, a ground bird or destroy a nest. In addition, quolls feed on insects and sometimes consume carrion. From time to time they raid farms, where they strangle all the birds they come across. Particularly brave individuals are not afraid to sneak into homes and steal food directly from the kitchens.

Because of my lifestyle speckled martens They have a very careful creeping gait, but at the same time they can make lightning-fast and sudden movements. These animals spend most of their lives on the ground; they climb trees very reluctantly; they are not good at it.

Listen to the voice of the speckled marsupial marten

If an urgent need arises, the marten can climb up an inclined trunk. When it is too hot, the animals hide in caves, in tree trunks, between stones. Martens drag bark and grass into these shelters to build nests.

The breeding season lasts from May to September. During this period it is winter in Australia. One female gives birth to more than 4 babies; in captivity, one speckled marsupial marten gave birth to 24 babies. But, unfortunately, only those babies survive who are the first to find the nipple and attach to it, and there are only 6 nipples in the mother’s pouch, therefore, only 6 of the strongest babies survive.

The brood pouch of these martens is completely different from that of a kangaroo: it is formed only during the breeding season, and is turned towards the tail. The cubs do not leave their mother's pouch for about 8 weeks, after which they sit in the den while the female hunts.

The speckled marsupial marten is another striking representative of the Australian fauna. 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 bad 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 of irregular shape. They are absent only on the tail of the animal. The small, neat, and slightly elongated muzzle ends with 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 included in the Red Book and is under state protection.

The spotted marsupial marten, also called the marsupial cat, is part of the family of predatory marsupials. It lives in Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania and forms a genus consisting of 6 species. Of these, 4 species live in Australia, and 2 in New Guinea. In addition, there are 2 known fossil species whose remains were discovered in Queensland. Species vary in size and weight, which ranges from 300 g to 7 kg.

The body length of adult individuals is 25-75 cm. The hairy tail reaches a length of 20-35 cm. Males are larger than females. The latter have 6 nipples and brood pouches, which acquire voluminous shapes during the breeding season. The rest of the time they are folds on the skin. The bags open back towards the tail. The only exception is one species - spotted-tailed marsupial martens. Their brood pouch is clearly defined all year round.

The muzzle is long, the nose is bright pink, and the ears are small. The coat is soft, thick, short and has a brown or black color on the back and sides, diluted with white spots. The belly is white or light yellow. As for weight, it varies markedly depending on the species. Mostly males weigh up to 1.3 kg, and females up to 0.9 kg. The largest species is the spotted-tailed marsupial marten. Males weigh about 7 kg, and females 4 kg. The smallest is the northern marsupial marten. The weight of males is 400-900 g, and the weight of females is 300-500 g.

Reproduction and lifespan

The breeding season is winter months(V Southern Hemisphere winter in June-August). Pregnancy in females is 3 weeks. At this time, the folds on the abdomen are transformed into a brood pouch. There are up to 18 cubs in a litter. They are small and no larger than a grain of rice. During the first 2 weeks, no more than 6 cubs remain alive, since the female has only 6 nipples.

The babies sit in their mother's pouch for 8 weeks. During the 9th week, they move from the pouch to their back, where they remain for another 6 weeks. They reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 year. IN wildlife The spotted marsupial marten lives from 2 to 5 years. Large species live longer than small ones. In captivity, life expectancy is 3-4 years.

Behavior and nutrition

These are nocturnal animals. They rarely search for prey during the daytime. They are mainly terrestrial, but are often found in trees. The lair is made in caves, among stones, in hollow logs. Solitary lifestyle. Each adult has its own territory. In this case, the territories of males often overlap with the territories of females. Notable are the common areas for toilets. Sometimes they have up to 100 litters. During the breeding season, males unite with females.

The diet consists of small mammals, no larger than rabbits, but everything depends on the size of the marsupial predators. Small species mainly eat insects, birds, frogs, lizards, and also fruits. But large species eat echidnas, opossums, hares, rats, mice, birds and reptiles. In times of famine, carrion is eaten. Animals chase their prey while hunting. Having caught up, they jump on her and close their jaws on the victim’s neck. They drink little, getting water from food.

Representatives of the species suffer from urbanization, housing construction, expansion of agricultural fields and development of the mining industry. Habitats are destroyed by large herbivores, trampling grass and thickets. As a result, the number of spotted marsupial martens has declined markedly in Australia. These animals are listed in the Red Book. As for New Guinea and Tasmania, the animals feel safer there, and their numbers do not cause serious concern.

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

Quolls are found mainly in areas with high humidity and big amount annual precipitation: in wet rain forests, river valleys. In Tasmania, quolls are found in sparse forests, plantations, meadows, pastures and various transitional biotopes, with the exception of wet tropical forests. Enters the swampy wastelands, alpine meadows, wet bushland and moss swamps, at altitudes from sea level to 1500 meters.

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 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 long body, 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 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 scavenge food leftovers 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 plant supplements - the animals willingly eat green parts of plants all year round, and 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, there were no quolls in any of the Russian zoos.

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 permission to keep a certain type of animal, 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 the 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 be the first to reach the mother’s pouch. 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 the age of 105 days, 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.

In nature, there are a huge number of animals differing in size, color and behavior.

Sometimes there is a species that combines several characteristics from other animals. A striking example The marsupial marten can serve to confirm these facts.

Marten distribution area

Marsupials of this species are quite large quantities They live on the islands of New Guinea, Tasmania, and also on the Australian mainland.

Appearance of a marsupial marten

This animal in its appearance resembles a mixture of martens and cats. Therefore, this species has another name - the marsupial cat, which combines six other species.

The size of an adult individual can vary from 25 to 74 cm, with the tail accounting for 20 to 40 cm, and sometimes all 60. The total weight of the spotted marten ranges from 1 to 6 kg. The females of this species are slightly smaller than the males.

The body is covered with hair, it is very soft and thick, but rather short, but on the tail it is the same, but longer. The color of the coat is gray-brown, gray-yellow or gray-black, it has white spots that have irregular shape. It is thanks to their presence that the genus of these martens was called spotted. The end of the muzzle is painted red, and the abdomen is most often yellow, gray or white.

The head of this marten is small and blunt in shape, but depending on the species there are individuals with a short and pointed head. The ears of this animal are also no different large size.

Listen to the voice of the marsupial marten

There are 42 teeth in the mouth, of which the molars and canines are the most developed. Sometimes the upper first incisor is separated from the other incisors by some space.

One more hallmark This species of marten has not only plantar pads, but also the first toe located on the hind limbs.

Marsupial martens are the owners long tail.

Lifestyle of the marsupial marten

For their shelters, these animals use the hollows of fallen trees, into which they drag dry bark and grass. In addition, a gap among the stones, as well as an abandoned hole and other secluded corners that they can find, can become a shelter for them. The main activity of marsupial martens occurs at night, when they move not only on the surface of the ground, but also climb trees. Quite often these animals can be found near human habitation.

Diet of the marsupial marten

Marsupial martens are predatory animals.

The main food for animals of this species are birds and small mammals, as well as insects, mollusks, fish and other types of amphibians and reptiles. However, if the opportunity arises, they will not refuse carrion. In addition, the diet of marsupial martens includes plant foods in the form of fruits.

Reproduction

The pregnancy of female martens lasts about three weeks, which falls on summer months May and July. After which from 4 to 6 babies are born. However, there is one known case when a female of this species was able to give birth to 24 cubs at once.

Babies are born blind and feed on their mother's milk. Their size at four weeks of age does not exceed 4 cm. After 8 weeks they stop sucking milk, and after another three weeks their eyes open. Little martens begin to taste meat at the age of 15 weeks, and become completely independent at 4.5 months.