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 food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

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 reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characteri ...

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 'Antech ...

'', 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 The subtropical antechinus (''Antechinus subtropicus'') is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was previously thought to be conspecific with the brown antechinus (''Antechinus stuartii''). The subtropical antec ...

(''Antechinus subtropicus''), and the tropical antechinus (''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 sexual behavior. The male yellow-footed antechinus engages in such frenzie ...

as the subspecies ''A. flavipes burrelli''. It was described in 1841 by the

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

William Sharp Macleay William Sharp Macleay or McLeay (21 July 1792 – 26 January 1865) was a British civil servant and entomologist. He was a prominent promoter of the Quinarian system of classification. After graduating, he worked for the British embassy in Pari ...

, 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 an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and is

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, 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, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...

, 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 'Antech ...

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). Its diet includes

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

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 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

s, and

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known as ...

es, although it is an opportunistic feeder. The litter size is six or seven young.

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, that runs rough ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, from southeastern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 257. The Australian Nati ...

. It is mostly found in forested habitats, with dense lower ground cover and low fire frequency.

References

External links

Animal Diversity Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q194186 Dasyuromorphs Mammals of New South Wales Mammals of Queensland Marsupials of Australia Mammals described in 1841