Breeding of The Long-Footed Potoroo, Potorous longipes (Marsupialia: Potoroidae), In the Wild: Behaviour, Births and Juvenile Independence.

Abstract

All trapping data for the long-footed potoroo, Potorous longipes, since its discovery in 1978 were examined for measurements of pouch young. From these data the birth-dates of 51 individuals were estimated. For sites in both East Gippsland and on the Great Dividing Range there was a strong peak of births in the July-September quarter. The data showed a significant bias in birth dates at both sites which was not accounted for by differences in trappability of females. For East Gippsland the ratio of sexes in pouch young was 3.5:1 in favour of males. This was a significant deviation from parity. For two sites on the Great Dividing Range nine of 13 pouch young were female.