Android Application Development

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The animal on the cover of Android Application Development is an Eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus), an endangered marsupial otherwise known as the Eastern native cat. Eastern quolls grow to about the same size as household cats, and their thick fur ranges in color from gray to brown and is dotted with white spots. However, unlike others of its kind (the Tiger quoll, for example), no spots cover its long, hairy tail.

No longer widespread throughout mainland Australia, the Eastern quoll remains common in Tasmania. It lives in rain forests and alpine areas, though it prefers dry grasslands and forests bordered by pastoral agricultural fields. Within these habitats, the Eastern quoll hunts for small mammals and steals food from the much larger Tasmanian devil by night; by day, it slumbers in logs and in nests in underground burrows.

While female Eastern quolls can birth up to 30 babies, typically only 6 will survive, as the mother only has 6 teats in her pouch for her children. Male and female Eastern quolls reach sexual maturation less than a year after being born. Provided it survives infancy, the quoll will live an average life span of six years.

Although some farmers dislike the quoll because it occasionally feeds on chickens and other small mammals (quolls will feed on injured or ill farm animals), the quoll also benefits farmers by consuming crop pests, mice, and carrion.

The cover image is from Wood’s Animate Creation Vol. I. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text ...