NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Brush-tailed Phascogale
Phascogale tapoatafa (Meyer, 1793)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa), also known by its Australian native name tuan, the common wambenger, the black-tailed mousesack or the black-tailed phascogale, is a rat-sized arboreal carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae, characterized by a tuft of black silky hairs on the terminal portion of its tail. Males of this species do not live past the age of one, as they die after reproducing.
Wikipedia contributors, Brush-tailed phascogale; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:56:37.305866+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Phascogale tapoatafa (Meyer, 1793)
- Name authority
- (Meyer, 1793)
- Common name
- Brush-tailed Phascogale
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Dasyuromorphia
- Family
- Dasyuridae
- Genus
- Phascogale
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassMetatheria Huxley, 1880
- orderDasyuromorphia Gill, 1872
- familyDasyuridae Goldfuss, 1820
- subfamilyDasyurinae Goldfuss, 1820
- tribePhascogalini Gill, 1872
- genusPhascogale Temminck, 1824
- speciesPhascogale tapoatafa (Meyer, 1793)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Phascogale. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Red-tailed PhascogalePhascogale calura Gould, 1844 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Brush-tailed PhascogalePhascogale pirata Thomas, 1904 | DasyuridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Viverra tapoatafa Meyer, 1793 Meyer, 1793 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=552622 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4FVN8. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.