Possible Predation on Feathertail Gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus) by Agile Antechinus (Antechinus agilis).

Abstract

A series of observations of the remains of partially eaten feathertail gliders Acrobates pygmaeus and three other small forest vertebrates is reported. All were made while checking nest-boxes erected for an ecological study of A. pygmaeus, and each nest-box had a restricted entrance hole. The delicacy with which some of these animals had been killed and eaten and the small size of the entrances to the nest-boxes indicated a small- sized predator was responsible, and the most likely species in the area is the agile antechinus Antechinus agilis. These small dasyurid marsupials were also captured from the nest-boxes on several occasions. Based on faecal analysis, they had previously been considered almost totally insectivorous.