Organ-body weight relationships in the Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula (Marsupialia: Phalangeridae).

Abstract

Organ-body weight relationships were studied in the adult, juvenile and pouch young Common Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus vulpecula. It was found that the relative sizes of spleen, heart and kidney were larger in the pouch young than in the juvenile and adult. The liver increased in relative size during pouch life but then fell around the time the pouch was vacated. In the adult possum all four organs examined were significantly larger in the male but this sex difference was only apparent in the size of the heart in the pouch young and juvenile. Significant seasonal changes were observed in the relative weights of the kidneys and heart in both sexes. However, only in the male did the relative liver size show significant seasonal variation.