Red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura) Dasyuridae

The red-tailed phascogale is a small carnivorous marsupial formerly from central and Western Australia, but now confined to southern Western Australia.  Its diet consists of spiders and insects, with some reports of phascogales eating small birds and mammals such as feral mice.  Phascogales consume almost 40% of their body weight in food each day.  They are desert-adapted and can obtain all their water needs from metabolism of their food.

Males rarely live more than 12 months in the wild, but females may survive up to 3 years.  Males usually die after their first mating (male semelparity), due to immune system collapse, stress-related disease and parasite infestations.

Recognisable by their distinctive tails – rust coloured at the top with a black and bushy end.