Maternal Strategies of Phascogale-Tapoatafa (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae) .1. Breeding Seasonality and Maternal Investment

Soderquist, TR

doi:10.1071/zo9930549

Cited by 41 publications

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“…Presence of CEC was recorded for all second- (1982), Soderquist (1993aSoderquist ( ,b, 1994 and results of this study. Breeding in the captive population occurs up to 1 month earlier than in wild populations (Soderquist, 1994).…”

Section: The Femalementioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive biology of the brush‐tailed phascogale, Phascogale tapoatafa (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

et al. 1999

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This study investigated the reproductive biology of a captive population of brush-tailed phascogales Phascogale tapoatafa. A`round robin' mating system was established in which seven adult male animals were rotated through seven adult females. Changes in vaginal cytology and peripheral plasma progesterone and oestradiol levels were monitored to determine features of the female reproductive cycle. Regular measurement of scrotal diameter, collection of testicular biopsies and monitoring of plasma testosterone levels was used to assess male reproductive activity. Oestrous cycle length was estimated as 40 5 days (n = 7) and gestation length as 27 5 days (n = 7). Plasma progesterone levels showed no signi®cant variation. This negative result is attributed to the small sample size (n = 4). Plasma oestradiol levels however, followed the predicted pattern, with an increase in peripheral concentration occurring prior to the breeding season. Oestradiol concentration peaked at 246.9 169.2 pg ml 71 (mean se) just before mating and declined to 24.3 12.0 pg ml 71 after mating. Histological studies of testicular biopsies revealed that spermatogenesis does not cease until after the breeding season has begun, in contrast to Antechinus species, in which spermatogenesis ceases before breeding. Plasma testosterone levels increased at the onset of the breeding season, peaking at 6.3 0.60 ng ml 7 . Testosterone concentrations remained high until approximately 3 weeks after breeding, followed by a decline to pre-breeding levels. Litter size and sex ratio did not vary signi®cantly between ®rst-and second-year females. Females did not undergo a second oestrous cycle when pouch young were removed 15 and 17 days after parturition.

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Section: The Femalementioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive biology of the brush‐tailed phascogale, Phascogale tapoatafa (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

et al. 1999

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“…Despite this, sex‐biased maternal investment during lactation has been relatively unstudied in marsupials (but see Soderquist, 1995; Tobey et al ., 2006). In contrast, biased maternal investment in sex ratio has been much better studied in marsupials (Stuart‐Dick & Higginbottom, 1989; Hardy, 1997; Sunnucks & Taylor, 1997; Johnson & Ritchie, 2002; Issac, Krockenberger & Johnson, 2005), with the dasyurids in particular showing a range of litter sex‐ratio biases (Cockburn, Scott & Dickman, 1985; Soderquist, 1993; Cockburn, 1994; Bradley, 1997; Davison & Ward, 1998; Ward, 2003; Foster & Taggart, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and parental influences on the growth of a sexually dimorphic carnivorous marsupial

Foster

Taggart

2008

Journal of Zoology

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The life histories of carnivorous marsupials, or dasyurids, make them useful subjects for studying maternal investment, such as sex ratio and lactational investment. One group of annual breeding dasyurids are male semelparous, strongly sexually dimorphic, produce large litters that weigh two to three times the weight of the mother at weaning and show biases in siring success and sex ratio. Red-tailed phascogales Phascogale calura belong to this group and in captivity they have shown biases in siring success with body weight. The growth rates of young of this species were investigated to determine whether sex-biased maternal investment occurs. No relationship was evident between maternal weight and the sex ratio of young, indicating no sex-ratio adjustment with maternal condition. In contrast, a positive relationship was evident between maternal weight and the weight of offspring at weaning, with weaning weight being correlated with weight at maturity. Dimorphism in weight emerged during suckling, with an average dimorphic ratio of 1.5 achieved by maturity. In contrast, dimorphism in skeletal measures did not emerge until after weaning, with an average dimorphic ratio of 1.14 achieved by maturity. The sex differences in growth during suckling provide support for a male bias in maternal investment.

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“…Females are monoestrous and take 5 months to raise their young to weaning. A proportion of the females survive to breed in a second year (Soderquist, 1993a;Rhind, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communal nesting in the usually solitary marsupial, Phascogale tapoatafa

Rhind

2003

Journal of Zoology

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The marsupial brushtailed phascogale Phascogale tapoatafa is a solitary, hollow-dependent, arboreal insectivore that occurs at low densities in open forests and woodlands of Australia. Data gathered from nest box surveys (4 years), and from radio-tracking phascogales to nest sites (3 years) in south-western Australia confirm solitary nesting after dispersal. However, in the winter of a single year, nest box surveys in one study area showed that 56% of individuals were nest sharing. On a neighbouring site, 81 group nests were also recorded among 18 radiocollared individuals. In both areas, groups comprised two to four individuals of any age/sex combination. The same phascogales tended to nest together and in a number of different sites. Nest sharing between females was restricted to territory boundaries and continued after the annual die-off of the males. Nest sharing coincided with prolonged drought conditions and in this year mature phascogales were significantly smaller than normal, i.e. males 25% less in weight, females 12% less. Communal nesting seemed to be a response to thermoregulatory difficulties posed by the three interrelated factors of low body mass, declining temperatures and declining food availability. Nest sharing in this species appeared to be a behavioural indicator of an energetics crisis, there was a population decline during the drought period and a population crash in the following year.

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Maternal Strategies of Phascogale-Tapoatafa (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae) .1. Breeding Seasonality and Maternal Investment

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Reproductive biology of the brush‐tailed phascogale, Phascogale tapoatafa (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

Reproductive biology of the brush‐tailed phascogale, Phascogale tapoatafa (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae)

Gender and parental influences on the growth of a sexually dimorphic carnivorous marsupial

Communal nesting in the usually solitary marsupial, Phascogale tapoatafa

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