The Rate of Passage of Food in the Brush-Tailed Possum, Trichosurus Vulpecula

Abstract

Detailed nutritional studies carried out on the macropod marsupial, Setonix brachyurus, by Moir, Somers, and Waring (1956) and by Calaby (1958) indicate that its digestive efficiency is intermediate between ruminant and non-ruminant herbivores. Ruminant digestion is characterized by the food being retained in the digestive tract for several days and by the very efficient digestion of fibre. Honigmann (1941) showed that the brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, was able to absorb large amounts of fibre. Earlier Honigmann (1936) had discussed experiments conducted on a number of mammals to determine the rate of passage of food through the digestive tract. No details of the experiments undertaken were given, but Honigmann claimed that the minimum time for the passage of food through the digestive tract of T. vulpecula was 10 hr, and the maximum 96 hr.