Antechinus is a genus of small
dasyurid marsupial endemic to Australia. They resemble mice with the bristly
fur of shrews. They are sometimes also called broad-footed marsupial mice,
pouched mice, route rat and/or Antechinus shrews. However, these common names
are considered either regional or archaic and the modern common name for the
animals is Antechinus.
Antechinus have short fur and are
generally greyish or brownish in colour, this varies with species. The fur is
dense and generally soft. Their tails are thin and tapering and range from
slightly shorter to slightly longer than body length. Their heads are conical
in shape and ears are small to medium in size. Some species have a relatively
long, narrow snout that gives them a shrew like appearance. Species vary from
12–31cm in length and weigh
16–170 g when fully grown.
A. agilis is the smallest known species, and A. swainsonii the largest.
Most species nest communally in
tree-hollows. They primarily inhabit all forests, woodlands and rainforest as
well as heaths and grasslands in some species. The majority of Antechinus
species are located on the eastern coast of Australia along the Great Dividing
Range. There is a population of A. flavipes in south west Western Australia. A.
bellus lives in northern Australia around the Gulf of Carpentaria. The
following are all species of marsupial mammal antechinus; A. adustus, A.
agilis, A. argentus, A. arktos, A. bellus, A. flavipes, A. godmani, A. leo, A.
mimetes, A. minimus, A. mysticus, A. stuartii, A. subtropicus, A. swainsonii
and A. vandycki
FACTS
Antechinus have an extremely
unusual reproductive system. The females are synchronously monoestrous with
mating occurring over a short 3 week period. The males experience mass
mortality after mating, with males surviving mating only observed in very rare
cases. Females often mate twice and in some cases three times in their lives.
The gestation period varies by species between 25 and 35 days. The offspring
are independent after about 90-100 days, depending on the species. This
development period is rather long compared with other, similar sized,
marsupials.
All males in all 12 species of the
marsupial mammal antechinus die after their first time successfully breeding,
typically from stressing themselves out. The stress of the breeding season
destroys their immune system, leading to liver infections and parasites of the
blood and intestine. While some females live to breed for another season, all
the males are sure to die because when attain maturity and starting mating they
try to mate with as many females as they can, they continue mating continuously
with different females up to 14 hours until they die.
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Posted by: Lusubilo A. Mwaijengo
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