The Red-tailed Phascogale is a small, arboreal, carnivorous marsupial with ash-grey fur above and cream fur below. Its distinctive tail grows up to 14.5 cm long, is reddish-brown on the base and ends in a brush of long black hair. This marsupial also has large, thin, reddish ears. This species is highly sexually dimorphic with males growing to 12.2 cm long and weighing up to 68 grams, and females growing to 10.5 cm and weighing 48 grams.
Red-tailed Phascogale |
Phascogale calura
Status: Vulnerable on the EPBC Act list
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
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Australian Government, Conservation Advice, Phascogale calura
Climate Severe Entire The red tailed phascogale is known to be change vulnerable to drought and there has been a significant trend to lower rainfall in south west Australia since the mid 1970s (3 4 per decade) with a further decline expected in coming years.
As such; if recruitment fails in any one year due to climatic conditions; it can have a large impact on the population.
Frequent; hot fires can destroy nesting hollows and protective canopy; but fire is infrequent in wheatbelt remnants (Friend Scanlon 1996).
However; fire is more frequent in the uncleared areas beyond the eastern boundary of the wheatbelt and may limit the persistence of phascogales in woodland east of the wheatbelt (Short Hide 2012).
Friend and Scanlon (1996) found that the effects of fox predation were less than those of drought fox reduction experiments resulted in only a minor increase in phascogale numbers; but numbers declined on the unbaited plots.
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