The black-tailed dasyure (''Murexia melanurus'') is a species of

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a ...

in the family

Dasyuridae The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but ...

Range and habitat

The Black-tailed dasyure is native to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, where it ranges across the Central Cordillera of

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

, which is part of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is also present in the

Arfak Mountains The Arfak Mountains is a mountain range found on the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Province of West Papua, Indonesia. The term "arfak" came from the language of the coastal Biak people, meaning "inferior." This is due to how big the mountains ar ...

of Western New Guinea and the

Torricelli Mountains The Torricelli Mountains are a mountain range in Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains are ...

in northern Papua New Guinea. It is found from sea level to mid-montane areas up to 2,800 meters elevation. Its natural habitat is forest, including lowland rain forest and montane rain forest (mid-montane forest, beech forest, pandanus forest, and mossy forest). It is fairly abundant across its range, and its population is stable.

Breeding

The Black-tailed dasyure breeds throughout the year. Females have up to four young.

References

External links

Scientists discover new species with fatal attraction on Queensland's Gold Coast hinterland
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Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(Wednesday, 19 February 2014) Dasyuromorphs Mammals described in 1899 Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Marsupials of New Guinea {{marsupial-stub