Quolls are dasyurid marsupials, the family that also contains the Tasmanian devil and the antechinuses. Six species survive, four in Australia and two in New Guinea, and all of them have a spotted coat. In the eastern quoll, western quoll and northern quoll the spotting stops at the base of the tail, leaving it plain. In Dasyurus maculatus the spots run out to the tip, which is why the species is also called the tiger quoll.
It is also by some margin the heaviest. Males average about 3.5 kilograms, and the largest southern and Tasmanian animals reach around 7, against roughly 1 kilogram for a male northern quoll. The smaller north Queensland subspecies, Dasyurus maculatus gracilis, averages nearer 1.6 kilograms in males. Even so, the species takes prey as large as small wallabies and possums.
The name tiger quoll misleads on two counts: the animal has no stripes, and it is not closely related to any cat. Early European settlers in Australia called quolls native cats, a label that persisted long after the marsupial affinity was understood.