Red-tailed phascogale

The red-tailed phascogale or Phascogale calura is one of three members of the phascogale genus, the others being the brush-tailed phascogale (P. tapoatafa) and the Northern brush-tailed phascogale (P. pirata). The species was described in 1844 by ornithologist John Gould. Its scientific name means "beautiful-tailed pouched-weasel".{{cite book | vauthors = Bradley AJ | contribution = Red-tailed Phascogale | year = 1995 | title = The Mammals of Australia | veditors = Strahan R | pages = 102–103 | place= | publisher = Reed Books | isbn = 978-0-7301-0484-1 }}

Alternative names for the species include red-tailed wambenger, kenngoor (the latter in the Nyoongar language), and red-tailed mousesack.{{cite web | title=Red-Tailed Phascogale - Appearance, Diet, Habitat | website=The Animal Facts | date=23 August 2022 | url=https://www.theanimalfacts.com/mammals/red-tailed-phascogale/ | access-date=25 August 2022}}

File:Phascogale calura (cropped).jpg

The red-tailed phascogale is smaller and browner than its close relative the brush-tailed phascogale. It is around {{cvt|10|cm}} long and weighs about {{cvt|60|g}}.

As in the brush-tailed phascogale, male red-tailed phascogales die following their first mating as a result of stress-related diseases.{{cite book | vauthors = Menkhorst P, Knight F |author2-link= Frank Knight (artist) |year= 2001 |title= A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia |publisher= Oxford University Press |page= 50 |isbn=978-0-19-550870-3}} Males rarely live past 11.5 months, although females can live to three years old. In captivity males and females can survive up to five years.{{cite book | vauthors = Bradley AJ, Foster WL, Taggart DA | date = 2008 | chapter = Red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura). | title = The Mammals of Australia | veditors = Van Dyck S, Strahan R | pages= 101–102 | publisher = Reed New Holland | location = Sydney | isbn = 978-1-877069-25-3 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Stannard HJ, Borthwick CR, Ong O, Old JM |title= Longevity and breeding in the red-tailed phascogale Phascogale calura |journal= Australian Mammalogy |date=2013 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages= 217–219| doi=10.1071/AM12042 }}

The animal can leap up to {{cvt|2|m}}.{{cite web | vauthors = McManus S | title=Red-tailed phascogale spotted in WA's Paruna Sanctuary to the surprise of scientists | website=ABC News| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=24 August 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/vulnerable-marsupial-red-tailed-phascogale-in-wildlife-sanctuary/101361374 | access-date=25 August 2022}}

An arboreal and carnivorous species, the red-tailed phascogale has a varied diet, and can feed on insects and spiders, but also small birds and small mammals, notably the house mouse (Mus musculus), which has become ubiquitous in the landscape since its introduction by Europeans.Kitchener, D.J., 1981. Breeding, diet and habitat preference of Phascogale calura (Gould, 1844)(Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) in the southern wheatbelt, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 9, pp.173-186.Stannard, H.J., Caton, W. and Old, J.M., 2010. The diet of red‐tailed phascogales in a trial translocation at Alice Springs Desert Park, Northern Territory, Australia. Journal of Zoology, 280(4), pp.326-331. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00658.x

The red-tailed phascogale does not drink, as its water is metabolised through its food.

The red-tailed phascogale was once found across the whole of mainland Australia, and formerly widespread throughout central and western Australia but is now restricted to the southern Western Australian wheatbelt.{{cite journal| vauthors = Short J, Hide A |title=Distribution and status of the red-tailed phascogale Phascogale calura |journal= Australian Mammalogy |date=2012 |volume=34 |pages=88–99|doi=10.1071/AM11017|url=http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/7842/}}

It is found in dense and tall climax vegetation, and appears to prefer those containing the Wandoo (Eucalyptus wandoo) and the rock sheoak (Allocasuarina huegeliana), as it has developed a resistance to the fluoroacetate the plants produce that is lethal to livestock. Most native animals have a resistance to this fluoracetate, but introduced species, like the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), do not, so it has been suggested that the red-tailed phascogale's survival in these areas could be attributed to this chemical.

The animal is classified as near threatened by the IUCN Red List and vulnerable under the Australian EPBC Act.{{cite web | title=Phascogale calura — Red-tailed Phascogale, Red-tailed Wambenger, Kenngoor | website=Species Profile and Threats Database |publisher= Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government| date=7 July 2022 | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=316 | access-date=25 August 2022}}

{{as of|August 2022}}, the species' status under the various state and territory legislation is as follows:

• NSW: Listed as Extinct (Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW): February 2022 list)
• NT: Listed as Extinct (Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 2000: 2012 list)
• SA: Listed as Endangered (National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: January 2020 list)
• VIC: Listed as Extinct (Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: October 2021 list)
• WA: Listed as Conservation Dependent (Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (WA): September 2018 list)

The species was reintroduced to the Wadderin Sanctuary in the central wheatbelt of Western Australia in 2009.{{cite journal| vauthors = Short J, Hide A |title=Successful reintroduction of the brushtail possum to Wadderin Sanctuary in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia|journal=Australian Mammalogy| date=2014|volume=36|issue=2|pages=229–241|doi=10.1071/AM14005}}

Recent conservation efforts in Central Australia have paid off, and 30 were released at the remote Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, near Lake Mackay, Northern Territory in June 2020 after a captive breeding program at the Alice Springs Desert Park. They were bred from a small group taken from the wild in Western Australia, after their delicate breeding cycle was carefully managed. The animals were microchipped before release, and will be tracked for their whole lives.{{cite web | website=ABC News|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | vauthors = Beavan K | title= Red-tailed phascogales return to Central Australian landscape for the first time in decades | date=23 June 2020 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-24/threatened-native-species-to-roam-central-australia-again/12384792 | access-date=24 June 2020}}

In a surprise to scientists, a red-tailed phascogale was observed in August 2022 at the Paruna Wildlife Sanctuary, a sanctuary run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy {{cvt|50|km}} north-east of Perth, in the Avon Valley. The species had not been seen near this location for several decades, with the closest known population around {{cvt|100|km}} away to the south-east.

The species is used as a model species in research.{{cite journal | vauthors = Old JM, Ong OT, Stannard HJ | title = Red-tailed phascogales: A review of their biology and importance as model marsupial species | journal = Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology| volume = 335 | issue = 2 | pages = 217–227 | date = February 2021 | pmid = 33382214 | doi = 10.1002/jez.2438 | bibcode = 2021JEZA..335..217O | s2cid = 229930762 }} Studies have been conducted on behavioural thermoregulation and have indicated they bask to reduce their energy demands.{{cite journal | vauthors = Stannard HJ, Fabian M, Old JM | title = To bask or not to bask: Behavioural thermoregulation in two species of dasyurid, Phascogale calura and Antechinomys laniger | journal = Journal of Thermal Biology | volume = 53 | pages = 66–71 | date = October 2015 | pmid = 26590457 | doi = 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2015.08.012 | bibcode = 2015JTBio..53...66S }} Captive nutrition trials found red-tailed phascogales consume up to 39% of their body mass in food per day and their daily maintenance energy requirements are approximately 954 kJ kg^0.75day⁻¹.Stannard, H.J. and Old, J.M., 2012. Digestibility of feeding regimes of the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) and the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger) in captivity. Australian Journal of Zoology, 59(4), pp.257-263. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1071/ZO11069 Like many other mammals their food intake during lactation changes to meet the increasing demands of the young.{{cite journal | vauthors = Stannard HJ, Old JM | title = Changes to food intake and nutrition of female red-tailed phascogales (Phascogale calura) during late lactation | journal = Physiology & Behavior | volume = 151 | pages = 398–403 | date = November 2015 | pmid = 26260432 | doi = 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.08.012 | s2cid = 6485078 | title-link = nutrition }}

Most notably the red-tailed phascogale has been used to study the marsupial immune system, development of their immune tissues,{{cite journal | vauthors = Borthwick CR, Old JM | title = Histological Development of the Immune Tissues of a Marsupial, the Red-Tailed Phascogale (Phascogale calura) | journal = Anatomical Record | volume = 299 | issue = 2 | pages = 207–219 | date = February 2016 | pmid = 26599205 | doi = 10.1002/ar.23297 | s2cid = 26070813 | doi-access = free }} and expression of and localisation of key immune cells.{{cite journal | vauthors = Borthwick CR, Young LJ, Old JM | title = An Examination of the Development and Localization of Key Immune Cells in Developing Pouch Young of the Red-Tailed Phascogale (Phascogale calura) | journal = Anatomical Record | volume = 302 | issue = 11 | pages = 1985–2002 | date = November 2019 | pmid = 31120185 | doi = 10.1002/ar.24176 | doi-access = free }} They have an active complement system,{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong O, Young L, Old J |title= Preliminary genomic survey and sequence analysis of the complement system in non-eutherian mammals |journal= Australian Mammalogy |date=2016 |volume=38 |pages=80–90 |doi=10.1071/AM15036 }} like other marsupials,{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong O, Young L, Old J |title=Detection of an active complement system in red-tailed phascogales (Phascogale calura) |journal= Comparative Clinical Pathology |date=2015 |volume=24 |issue=6|pages=1527–1534 |doi= 10.1007/s00580-015-2111-2|s2cid=29065218}} and the expression levels of complement components vary in developing young.{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong OT, Young LJ, Old JM | title = Sequences and expression of pathway-specific complement components in developing red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) | journal = Developmental and Comparative Immunology | volume = 65 | pages = 314–320 | date = December 2016 | pmid = 27514577 | doi = 10.1016/j.dci.2016.08.003 }} The serum of red-tailed phascogales has been shown to have antimicrobial properties against some bacterial species.{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong OT, Green-Barber JM, Kanuri A, Young LJ, Old JM | title = Antimicrobial activity of red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) serum | journal = Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases | volume = 51 | pages = 41–48 | date = April 2017 | pmid = 28504094 | doi = 10.1016/j.cimid.2017.03.001 }} Reference genes have been evaluated in pouch young and adults.{{cite journal | vauthors = Ong OT, Young LJ, Old JM | title = Evaluation of reference genes for gene expression in red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) liver, lung, small intestine and spleen | journal = PeerJ | volume = 4 | pages = e2552 | date = 2016-09-06 | pmid = 27761339 | pmc = 5068414 | doi = 10.7287/peerj.preprints.2422v1 | doi-access = free }}

Red-tailed phascogales also express T-cell receptors and co-receptors,{{cite journal | vauthors = Borthwick CR, Young LJ, Old JM | title = Molecular identification and gene expression profiles of the T cell receptors and co-receptors in developing red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) pouch young | journal = Molecular Immunology | volume = 101 | pages = 268–275 | date = September 2018 | pmid = 30029061 | doi = 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.07.005 | s2cid = 51706551 }} major histocompatibility complex,{{cite journal| vauthors = Hermsen E, Young L, Old J | title=MHC Class II in the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura)|journal= Australian Mammalogy |date=2016|volume=39|pages=28–32|doi=10.1071/AM16002}} and interleukin-6 and its receptor.{{cite journal | vauthors = Borthwick CR, Young LJ, McAllan BM, Old JM | title = Identification of the mRNA encoding interleukin-6 and its receptor, interleukin-6 receptor α, in five marsupial species | journal = Developmental and Comparative Immunology | volume = 65 | pages = 211–217 | date = December 2016 | pmid = 27431929 | doi = 10.1016/j.dci.2016.07.008 }}

Given their semelparous reproductive strategy they have been investigated in terms of their immunosenescense in captivity{{cite journal| vauthors = Letendre C, Sawyer E, Young LJ, Old JM | title=Immunosenescence in a captive semelparous marsupial, the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) |journal= BMC Zoology |date=2018|volume=3|pages=10|doi=10.1186/s40850-018-0036-3|doi-access=free}} and immune response.{{cite journal | vauthors = Letendre C, Young LJ, Old JM | title = Limitations in the isolation and stimulation of splenic mononuclear cells in a dasyurid marsupial, Phascogale calura | journal = BMC Research Notes | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 712 | date = October 2018 | pmid = 30305168 | pmc = 6180634 | doi = 10.1186/s13104-018-3824-5 | doi-access = free }}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=316 Phascogale calura] on the Australian Government's Species Profile and Threats Database

{{Dasyuromorphia|D.D.}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q194190}}

Category:Dasyuromorphs

Category:Endangered fauna of Australia

Category:Mammals of Western Australia

Category:Marsupials of Australia

Category:Mammals described in 1844

Category:Taxa named by John Gould