The agile antechinus (''Antechinus agilis'') is a species of small carnivorous

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 ...

. It is found 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 ...

Taxonomy

The agile antechinus was long considered to be a form of the

brown antechinus The brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii''), also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The males die after their first breeding season, and the specie ...

(''Antechinus stuartii''), and was only recognised as a distinct species after a study of

genetic variation Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations among the same species. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources ...

within the brown antechinus in 1980. However, it was not formally described until 1998.

Characteristics

The agile antechinus is nearly indistinguishable from the brown antechinus, but it is slightly smaller and its fur has a more greyish tinge. It feeds mostly on

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s, including

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 ...

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 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, but may also devour small

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s and soft

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

. The species has been known to enter

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 ...

in response to shortages of food. 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 agile antechinus has a short and violent breeding season, after which the males all die.Shimmin, Glenn A., David A. Taggart, and Peter D. Temple-Smith.
Mating behaviour in the agile antechinus Antechinus agilis (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)
" Journal of Zoology 258.1 (2002): 39–48. The females give birth after a 27-day

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

. Groups of up to 20 have been known to nest together.

Distribution and habitat

The agile antechinus inhabits wet or moist forest in the southeastern corner of

. The species is widely abundant, although it has been reduced in areas due to forest clearing, the instigation of

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

ing,

controlled burning A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, ...

and the introduction of the

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

and the

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

. Despite these threats, there is no indication that the species is at all threatened.

Gallery

File:Antechinus agilis Gould.jpg, From

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...

's ''Mammals of Australia'' File:Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis) showing offspring inside.jpg, Female with offspring inside File:Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis) on cloth, close-up from front.jpg, Close-up

References

External links

Photos of agile antechinus
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134343 Dasyuromorphs Mammals of New South Wales Mammals of Victoria (state) Marsupials of Australia Mammals described in 1998