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The quoll (; genus ''Dasyurus'') is a carnivorous marsupial native to mainland Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania. It is primarily nocturnal and spends most of the day in its den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that the quoll evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around four million years ago. The quoll species vary in weight and size, from to . They have brown or black fur and pink noses. They are largely solitary, but come together for a few social interactions such as mating which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 puppies, of which only six survive to suckle on her teats. The quoll eats smaller mammals, small birds, lizards, and insects. Its natural lifespan is between two and five years. All species have drastically declined in numbers since Australasia was colonised by Europeans, with one species, the eastern quoll, becoming extinct on the Australian mainland, now being found only in Tasmania. Major threats to their survival include the cane toad, predators, urban development, and poison baiting. Conservation efforts include breeding programs in captivity. == Taxonomy == The name ''Dasyurus'' (from Greek δασύουρος, ''dasyouros'') means "hairy-tail", and was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796. In 1770, Captain Cook collected quolls on his exploration of the east coast of Australia, adopting the Aboriginal name for the animals. Although the origin of Cook's specimens are unclear, the word and its variants ''je-quoll'', ''jaquol'' or ''taquol'' are derived from the language of the Guugu Yimithirr people of far north Queensland. No evidence indicates the local indigenous people used the word in the Sydney area. They were likened in appearance to a polecat or marten in the earliest reports, the tiger quoll being called "spotted marten" and eastern quoll "spotted opossum", but by 1804, the names "native cat" and "tiger cat" had been adopted by early settlers. In the 1960s, noted naturalist David Fleay pushed for the revival of the term "quoll", as he felt the then current vernacular names were misleading. They are very well known animals in Australia. Four species have been recovered from Pleistocene cave deposits from Mount Etna Caves National Park near Rockhampton in central Queensland. Remains of the tiger quoll and the northern quoll, and a species either identical or very similar to the eastern quoll, as well as a prehistoric species as yet undescribed, all lived in what was a rainforest climate. The northern quoll is still found in the region. The fossil species ''D. dunmalli'', described by Bartholomai in 1971, is the oldest species recovered to date. Its remains were found in Pliocene deposits near Chinchilla in southeastern Queensland. Known only from a lower jaw and some teeth, it was a relative of the tiger quoll. The first species described, the eastern quoll, was originally placed in the American opossum genus ''Didelphis'' by an anonymous author, and named ''Didelphis maculata''. This name is no longer considered valid, and the second part of the name is now given to a different species, the tiger quoll, ''Dasyurus maculatus'', while the eastern quoll was renamed ''Dasyurus viverrinus'' by George Shaw in 1800. The tribe Dasyurini, to which quolls belong, also includes the Tasmanian devil, the antechinus, the kowari, and the mulgara.〔 Genetic analysis of cytochrome b DNA and 12S rRNA of the mitochondria indicates the quolls evolved and diversified in the late Miocene between 15 and 5 million years ago, a time of great diversification in marsupials. The ancestors of all current species had diverged by the early Pliocene, around 4 million years ago. The genus ''Dasyurus'' consists of six species of quoll: *The bronze quoll (''D. spartacus'') is the only mammal found in the Trans Fly ecoregion, but not in northern Australia. It is found in the southern part of New Guinea south of the Fly River. Rising sea levels due to an increase in global temperature caused a land bridge that once connected Australia and New guinea to be covered up with water. A 2007 study conducted by the University of New South Wales suggests the bronze quoll is closely related to the western quoll, their ancestors diverging with the separation of land masses.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=UNSW )〕 *The western quoll or ''chuditch'' (''D. geoffroii'') is restricted to the Jarrah Forest and the central and southern Australian Wheatbelt. The western quoll is believed to have once occupied 70% of Australia, but because of cane toads, predators, habitat destruction, and poison baiting, it is now less abundant.〔 *The New Guinean quoll (''D. albopunctatus'') is found throughout most of New Guinea. It tends to live at an elevation of about , and is not found in the south-western lowlands, although it can found on Yapen Island.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species )〕 *The eastern quoll (''D. viverrinus'') is now considered extinct on mainland Australia; the last sighting there was in the 1960s. But it does inhabit much of nearby Tasmania, where it can be found in rainforests, heathland, alpine areas, and scrubs. It can be found near farms, as it eats pasture food. The eastern quoll can also be seen in the Mount Field National Park.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania )〕 *The tiger quoll or spotted tail quoll (''D. maculatus''), lives in south-eastern Australia. It tends to prefer rock dens more than dens made out of wood. In a study submitted by Belcher and Darrant in 2006, the habitats of tiger quoll were directly related to the amount of prey found in the area. Gullies and drainage ditches were used quite often by the quolls, and ridges with rocky outcrops were used to make the rock dens the animals enjoy. The species in Queensland has declined rapidly and is now absent from the Brisbane region. Important strongholds for the population occur in the Blackall/Conondale ranges, Main Range, Lamington Plateau and the McPherson and Border ranges.〔McFarland, D., n.d. Systematic vertebrate fauna survey project stage iiB-assessment of habitat quality for priority species in southeast queensland bioregion.〕 *The northern quoll (''D. hallucatus'') could be found in the northern third of Australia a century ago. Presently, it resides in high rocky areas and areas with heavy rainfall. It is abundant on the minor islands surrounding northern Australia. In 2003, northern quolls were translocated to Astell and Pobassoo Islands for conservation reasons. Genetic analysis indicates it is the earliest offshoot from the ancestors of other quolls.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quoll」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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