is still found in the region. The fossil species D. dunmalli, described by Bartholomai in 1971, is the oldest species recovered to date. Its remains were found in Pliocene deposits near Chinchilla in southeastern Queensland. Known only from a lower jaw and some teeth, it was a relative of the spotted-tailed quoll.

The first species described, the eastern quoll, was originally placed in the American opossum genus Didelphis