---
title: "Brush-tailed Phascogale"
description: "Phascogale tapoatafa — Mammiferi. 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."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/brush-tailed-phascogale
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Brush-tailed Phascogale

> Phascogale tapoatafa — Mammiferi. 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.

- Scientific name: *Phascogale tapoatafa*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammiferi)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 1231
- Wikidata: [Q194194](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q194194)
- iNaturalist taxon: [40179](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/40179)

## Names

- en: Brush-tailed Phascogale
- de: Großer Pinselschwanzbeutler
- es: Fascogalo de Cola de Cepillo Meridional
- fr: Grand Phascogale
- nl: Tafa
- pl: Myszowór pędzloogonowy

## Countries with the most observations

AU (1125)

## Summary

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.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush-tailed_phascogale

## Photo

![Brush-tailed Phascogale](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/brush-tailed-phascogale/medium.jpg)

Photo: george_vaughan · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148018712

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/brush-tailed-phascogale?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).