With males and females weighing around 3.5 and 1.8 kg (7.7 and 4.0 lb), respectively, it is the world's second-largest extant carnivorous marsupial, behind the Tasmanian devil.

The tiger quoll commonly preys on small mammals, insects, birds, domestic poultry and large marsupials such as wombats.

The tiger quoll is a member of the family Dasyuridae, which includes most carnivorous marsupial mammals.

This quoll was first described in 1792 by Robert Kerr, the Scottish writer and naturalist, who placed it in the genus Didelphis, which includes several species of American opossum.

The species name, maculatus is the Latin word for "spotted", which refers to the animal's mottled fur pattern.

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

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

The ancestors of all current species had diverged by the early Pliocene, around 4 million years ago.

[8] Adult females of the northern subspecies are generally smaller and weigh 1.5 times less than their male counterparts.

[11] The tiger quoll has relatively short legs, but its tail is as long as its body and head combined.

The tiger quoll usually has a reddish-brown pelage (a minority have black fur) with white spots, and colourations do not change seasonally.

[11] The tiger quoll has the second-most powerful bite relative to body size of any living mammalian carnivore, exerting a force of 153 N (34 lbf).

[13][14] The tiger quoll is found in eastern Australia where more than 600 mm (24 in) of rain falls per year.

[16] The quoll was probably never very numerous in South Australia, but although considered locally extinct for 130 years, one was captured in the state's south-east in 2023.

[8][19] In Tasmania, the tiger quoll frequents the northern and western areas where rains are seasonal.

[11] Prey items eaten by quolls include insects, crayfish, lizards, snakes, birds, domestic poultry, small mammals, platypus, rabbits, arboreal possums, cuscuses, greater gliders, bandicoots, pademelons, small wallabies, and wombats.

[10] It then launches its attack, executing a killing bite to the base of the skull or top of the neck, depending on the size of the prey.

[10] Quolls, in turn, may be preyed on by Tasmanian devils and masked owls in Tasmania and dingos and dogs in mainland Australia.

[22] Tiger quolls have been recorded traveling 3 to 5 km (1.9 to 3.1 mi) per day in search of food and other resources.

Succeeding a 3-week gestation period, females give birth with their hindquarters raised and their tails curled.

[10] Humans may directly contribute to quoll deaths through exploitation, motor collisions, and 1080 poisoning.

Exposure to introduced species, cleared forest, and farms may lead to high mortality rates.

[36][37] Wildlife corridors are being built to ensure the survival of the species, along with the management of introduced canids and felids.