Life History
The Northern Quoll is the smallest of the four Australian quoll species. Females are smaller than males with adult females weighing between 350-690g and adult males 540-1120g. Head and body length ranges from 270-370mm (adult males) to 249-310 (adult females). Tail length ranges between 202-345mm.
Northern quolls feed primarily on invertebrates, but also consume fleshy fruit, and a wide range of vertebrates including small mammals, birds, lizards, snakes and frogs. They also scavenge on road-kills, around campsites and in garbage tins.
A remarkable feature of this species is that the males show complete die-off after mating, leaving the females to raise the young alone. Females have eight teats in a pouch, but apparently give birth to more than eight young which must wriggle their way to the pouch and compete for a teat to survive. In a study in Western Australia's Kimberley region, the testosterone levels of males peaked in July, and females gave birth in July or August.
In the wild, males live for about one year, while the maximum recorded for a wild female was about three years of age. In rocky habitats, the life span of both sexes appears to be increased to two or three years, and individuals are larger than those living in savanna habitats, possibly due to better habitat and reduced predation.
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