CreatureData

Dibbler

Parantechinus apicalis (Gray, 1842)

ENEndangeredmarsupials

The dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) is a species in the family Dasyuridae, order Dasyuromorphia. Recorded adults weigh 57.5 g to 70.7 g, reach 26 cm in length and live up to 3 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis)
Photo: John Gould / Henry Constantine Richter · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the dibbler

Weight
57.5 g – 70.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
24.5 cm – 26 cmsrc for Length
Lifespan
3 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
5.5 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
44 days – 52 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
6 – 8src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
10.3 months – 10.7 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
Day and night (cathemeral)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

How big is the dibbler?

DIBBLER · LENGTH 26 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 26 cm, the recorded maximum length of the dibbler is about 15% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the dibbler live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The dibbler is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the dibbler?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) is an endangered species of marsupial. It is an inhabitant of the southwest mainland of Western Australia and some offshore islands. It is a member of the order Dasyuromorphia, and the only member of the genus Parantechinus. The dibbler is a small, nocturnal carnivore with speckled fur that is white around the eyes.

From the Wikipedia article “Dibbler” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dibbler&oldid=1384028913), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the dibbler endangered?

The dibbler is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the dibbler classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderDasyuromorphia
  5. familyDasyuridae
  6. genusParantechinus
  7. SpeciesParantechinus apicalis (Gray, 1842)

Synonyms Antechinus apicalis, Phascogale apicalis

Other names and names in other languages (13)
  • Southern dibblerEnglish
  • Southern dibblerEnglish
  • دبلر جنوبيArabic
  • vakomyš pihovanáCzech
  • SprenkelbeutelmausGerman
  • Díbler meridionalSpanish
  • dibbleriFinnish
  • Souris Marsupiale MouchetFrench
  • Souris marsupiale mouchetéeFrench
  • アンテキヌスモドキJapanese
  • Gespikkelde BuidelmuisDutch
  • sorkołaz okularowyPolish
  • Крапчатая сумчатая мышьRussian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the dibbler

Other species in the same family Dasyuridae.

NT, Near Threatened
Tiger quoll (Dasyurus maculatus)

Tiger quoll

Dasyurus maculatus

Dasyuridae

VU, Vulnerable
Kowari (Dasyuroides byrnei)

Kowari

Dasyuroides byrnei

Dasyuridae

CompareDibbler vs Tasmanian devilDibbler vs Tiger quollDibbler vs Eastern quollDibbler vs Kowari

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the dibbler?

An adult dibbler weighs 57.5 g – 70.7 g and measures 24.5 cm – 26 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the dibbler live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the dibbler for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the dibbler endangered?

The dibbler is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the dibbler live?

The dibbler has a recorded lifespan of 3 years.

How long is the dibbler pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 44 days – 52 days.

What kind of animal is the dibbler?

The dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) belongs to the family Dasyuridae in the order Dasyuromorphia.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dibbler

MLA

“Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dibbler.

BibTeX
@misc{dibbler_2026,
  title = {Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dibbler},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}