This family of 17 Recent genera and 58 species occurs in Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and some adjacent islands. The Dasyuridae are considered to be closely related to the Didelphidae, and both families have certain primitive characters similar to those of the early marsupials.
Dasyurids are small to medium in size.
The genus Planigale includes the world's smallest marsupials, some measuring only 95 mm in total length and weighing about 5 grams. The tail of a dasyurid is long, hairy, and nonprehensile. The limbs are about equal in length, and the digits are separate. The forefoot has five digits, the hind foot four or five. Some genera walk plantigrade, on the toes.