The brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii''), also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small
carnivorous
A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...
marsupial
Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...
of the family
Dasyuridae
The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 71 extant species divided into 17 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but th ...
. The males die after their first breeding season, and the species holds the world record for being the world's smallest
semelparous
Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered ''semelparous'' if it is characterized by a single reproduction, reproductive episode before death, and ''iteroparous ...
mammal.
Description
''Antechinus stuartii'' is mostly light brown above, including the upper surfaces of its feet, and a lighter brown below and on its tail. Its body length is and its tail , and it weighs . Unlike in other members of ''
Antechinus
''Antechinus'' (// ('ant-echinus')) is a genus of small dasyurid marsupial endemic to Australia. They resemble mice with the bristly fur of shrews.
Names
They are also sometimes called 'broad-footed marsupial mice', 'pouched mice', or 'Ante ...
'', no pale-coloured eye ring occurs. ''
Antechinus agilis'' is similar in appearance and difficult to distinguish except by its distribution.
Taxonomy
The brown antechinus was only the third in its genus to be described and as such, until recently, has included species such as the
agile antechinus
The agile antechinus (''Antechinus agilis'') is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It is found in Australia.
Taxonomy
The agile antechinus was long considered to be a form of the brown antechinus (''Antechinus s ...
(''Antechinus agilis''), the
subtropical antechinus (''Antechinus subtropicus''), and the
tropical antechinus
The tropical antechinus (''Antechinus adustus''), also known as the rusty antechinus, is a species of small marsupial carnivore, particularly closely related to the brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii'').
It is found in a small area of tro ...
(''Antechinus adustus'').
[ It has also been included itself with the ]yellow-footed antechinus
The yellow-footed antechinus (''Antechinus flavipes''), also known as the mardo, is a shrew-like marsupial found in Australia. One notable feature of the species is its animal sexual behavior, sexual behavior. The male yellow-footed antechinus e ...
as the subspecies ''A. flavipes burrelli''.[ It was described in 1841 by the ]entomologist
Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
William Sharp Macleay, who named the species in honour of his friend and fellow naturalist James Stuart, who had discovered the animal at Spring Cove (North Head) in 1837 while working as surgeon in charge of the Quarantine Station.
Behavior
The brown antechinus is mostly nocturnal
Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatur ...
and is arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...
, and females build large communal nests shared by many individuals. Like all antechinus
''Antechinus'' (// ('ant-echinus')) is a genus of small dasyurid marsupial endemic to Australia. They resemble mice with the bristly fur of shrews.
Names
They are also sometimes called 'broad-footed marsupial mice', 'pouched mice', or 'Ante ...
es, the males die after their first breeding season (which lasts two weeks) as a result of stress and exhaustion.[ The current accepted hypothesis to why this happens is that sperm competition drives increased male investment in reproduction. Female brown antechinuses do not possess a pouch; the young must attach themselves to the teats (of which there are usually eight). The litter size is six or seven young.
Its diet includes ]beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s, spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s, amphipod
Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphipod species cur ...
s, and cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests.
Modern cockro ...
es, although it is an opportunistic feeder.[ Following a fire it will remain in its home range and undergo ]torpor
Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually marked by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Torpor enables animals to survive periods of reduced food availability. The term "torpor" can refer to the ti ...
, thus reducing its foraging requirements and reducing the risk from predators.
Distribution and habitat
The brown antechinus is found east of the Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...
in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, from southeastern Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
to around Kioloa, New South Wales
Kioloa is a small hamlet located on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia and is within the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is pronounced by locals as 'Ky-ola'. At the , Kioloa had a population of 292.
The Australian Natio ...
.[ with dense lower ground cover and low fire frequency.]
References
External links
Animal Diversity Web
{{Authority control
Dasyuromorphs
Mammals of New South Wales
Mammals of Queensland
Marsupials of Australia
Mammals described in 1841
Taxa named by William Sharp Macleay