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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(2)

Observation of reproductive strategies of captive kultarrs (Antechinomys laniger)

Hayley J. Stannard A B and Julie M. Old A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Native and Pest Animal Unit, School of Natural Sciences, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia.

B Corresponding author: Email: h.stannard@uws.edu.au

Australian Mammalogy 32(2) 179-182 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM10011
Submitted: 14 April 2010  Accepted: 28 June 2010   Published: 15 September 2010

Abstract

Captive kultarrs (Antechinomys laniger) were bred from June to February. Their gestation period was longer than 12 days, as suggested by previous research. Pouches were observed to determine whether births occurred. Individuals were capable of producing offspring in their second and third year of life, which has been suspected previously, but never demonstrated in other published studies.

Additional keywords: dasyurid, embryonic diapause, gestation, sperm storage.


Acknowledgements

We thank the technical staff of the School of Natural Sciences for assistance in maintaining the colony on a daily basis and Wes Caton for his helpful suggestions and expertise on kultarr breeding. Thank you to Lauren Young and Marissa Parrott for providing feedback on a previous version of this manuscript. We acknowledge the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Western Sydney for colony support. Colony maintenance and reproduction was approved by the UWS Animal Care and Ethics Committee ARTP07/015. H. Stannard was supported by a UWS postgraduate scholarship.


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