[2] Major threats to their survival include the toxic cane toad, predators such as feral cats and foxes, urban development, and poison baiting.

[3] The name Dasyurus (from Greek δασύουρος, dasýouros) means "hairy-tail",[4] and was coined by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in 1796 (from δασύς : dasýs "hairy" and οὐρά : ourá "tail").

In 1770, Captain Cook collected quolls on his exploration of the east coast of Australia, adopting an Aboriginal name for the animals.

[citation needed] In the 1960s, noted naturalist David Fleay pushed for the revival of the term "quoll" to replace the then-current vernacular names that he felt were misleading.

[10] The tribe Dasyurini, to which quolls belong, also includes the Tasmanian devil, the antechinus, the kowari, and the mulgara.

[11] Genetic analysis of cytochrome b DNA and 12S rRNA of the mitochondria indicates the quolls evolved and diversified in the late Miocene between 15 and 5 million years ago, a time of great diversification in marsupials.

They are primarily nocturnal, sleeping in hollowed-out logs or rocky dens and coming out to hunt during the night, though on rare occasions they can be seen looking for prey during the day.They are mostly ground-dwelling, but it is not uncommon to see a quoll climbing a tree.

The spotted-tailed quoll's diet is dominated by mammals such as brushtail possums, rabbits, hares and invertebrates.

The exact mix is variable depending on the availability of prey after bushfires, and can include carrion or bandicoots when food is scarce.

[26] A study of historical records revealed 111 written accounts of quolls opportunistically feeding on human remains in Australia.

The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has stated that cane toads are highly invasive and are major threats to the survival of northern quolls.

[17] The natural poison fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) is commonly used in Australia to control introduced pests such as European rabbits, foxes, feral predators, and dingoes.

The poison is extremely toxic to introduced pests, but less so to native animals as it is found naturally in many Australian plants.

As of 2001[update] research was being undertaken to determine whether the number of quolls protected from predators may be less than those killed by the poison.

[36] In response, quolls were systematically exterminated[37] by colonists to defend introduced species such as chickens;[38] rabbits populations subsequently reached plague proportions.

In late October 2011, a litter of five spotted-tailed quoll pups was born at Wild Life Sydney in Darling Harbour, Australia.

The reason for the young parents was because older male quolls can become violent and kill the female if they do not want to mate.

[48] On 28 September 2023, it was reported that a farmer in Beachport, South Australia set up a trap to catch what he thought was a fox or a cat eating his chickens and caught a Spotted-tailed quoll.

The captured quoll was handed over to the National Parks and Wildlife Service where it will be DNA tested and treated by a veterinarian.

It has successfully bred more than 60 western quolls, most of which it transferred to Julimar Conservation Park, with proposals to translocate to Wheatbelt reserves and Shark Bay.

In 2016, the eastern quoll was also successfully reintroduced to Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary in the Australian Capital Territory.

In May 2021, the reintroduction of eastern quolls to Booderee National Park has been reported to have failed when numbers were down to one male.

[51] The northern quoll is threatened by toxic cane toads, but a University of Sydney project revealed in 2010 is teaching them to avoid eating the invasive amphibians.

[19] Tjilpa is the name given to the quoll amongst the Northern Arrernte language group of Australian Aboriginal people.