Australia’s northern quoll is, by all accounts, an unpleasant animal. The carnivorous marsupial, Dasyurus hallucatus, lives in isolated pockets in the country’s north and, at first glance, might be mistaken for some kind of rat or other rodent—until you notice all those sharp teeth, similar to those of a cat. Like cats, northern quolls are highly skilled nocturnal hunters, nabbing mostly insects, but also the occasional small mammal, bird, or reptile. They have an outsized reputation for “being lively and pugnacious,” says University of Queensland marsupial expert Diana Fisher. For…
