Sex-biased dispersal in the rufous bettong Aepyprymnus rufescens.

Abstract

STUDIES of dispersal and philopatry in Macropodoid marsupials have revealed strong sexdifferential patterns, consistent with those found in other mammals (Johnson 1989; Greenwood 1980). In the macropodids (kangaroos and wallabies), males disperse at sexual maturity, over distances several times greater than the diameter of their mother’s home range. Females typically remain close to their birth place, often settling within the maternal home range, resulting in long-term association of female kin. Dispersal in potoroids (rat-kangaroos) is far less well understood. Although movements of adults have been studied in several species, there are only two indications of the pattern of natal dispersal and philopatry. Christensen and Maisey (1987) suggested that in the woylie Bettongia penicillata sub-adults probably dispersed over short distances, and that such dispersal was male-biased. Pope (2001) used microsatellite assignment tests and pairwise analysis of relatedness to infer that dispersal was also malebiased in B. tropica.