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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 47(1)

Observation of offspring sex ratio in quenda, Isoodon fusciventer

Chris R. Dickman A B and Natasha D. Harrison https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5779-0187 C *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Zoology (now School of Biological Sciences), University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B Present address: School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

C School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

* Correspondence to: natasha.harrison@uwa.edu.au

Handling Editor: Bronwyn McAllan

Australian Mammalogy 47, AM24012 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM24012
Submitted: 20 March 2024  Accepted: 10 December 2024  Published: 7 January 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society.

Abstract

Sex ratios in wild populations of mammals often differ from parity. Here, we describe variation in offspring sex ratios in a population of quenda (Isoodon fusciventer, Marsupialia: Peramelidae), along with observations of maternal body mass and home range size. We evaluate whether the Local Resource Competition (LRC) or Trivers–Willard hypothesis best explains the observed patterns in offspring sex ratio. During the study period, young (small) females over-produced sons, whereas older (larger) females tended to produce more daughters, providing evidence consistent with the LRC hypothesis in this species. There were, however, observed shifts in adult sex ratios compared to previous years. We further discuss the possibility of adaptive sex-ratio adjustment by female quenda to reduce competition with their kin.

Keywords: adaptive sex allocation, differential offspring mortality, differential resource allocation, local resource competition (LRC), maternal investment, sex-ratio bias, Trivers–Willard Hypothesis (TWH).

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