The mechanical properties of bettong and potoroo foods

D. Rex Mitchell; Justin A. Ledogar; Damien Andrew; Ian Mathewson; Vera Weisbecker; Karl Vernes

doi:10.1071/AM24006

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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The mechanical properties of bettong and potoroo foods

D. Rex Mitchell

^A ^B ^* , Justin A. Ledogar

^C , Damien Andrew

^D , Ian Mathewson ^E , Vera Weisbecker

^A ^B and Karl Vernes

^F

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

^B Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.

^C Department of Health Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA.

^D Department of Botany and N. C. W. Beadle Herbarium, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

^E Peregrine Drive, Lowood, QLD 4311, Australia.

^F Ecosystem Management, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: rex.mitchell@flinders.edu.au

Handling Editor: Bronwyn McAllan

Australian Mammalogy 46, AM24006 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM24006

Submitted: 27 February 2024 Accepted: 28 May 2024 Published: 20 June 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)

Abstract

Potoroid marsupials (bettongs and potoroos of the family Potoroidae) are considered ecosystem engineers because of the roles they play in maintaining biodiversity. However, severe declines since European arrival have necessitated intense conservation efforts. Vital to these efforts is an understanding of the physical challenges that define their niches. The mechanical properties of their foods, such as toughness and stiffness, represent a physical interface with the environment that can contribute to quantitatively defining their niches. Here, we provide mechanical property data from wild bettong and potoroo foods, such as roots and tubers, fruit, fungi, invertebrates, seeds, and leaves. Toughness ranged from approximately 56.58 J/m² (fungal sporocarp of Descolea sp.) to 2568.15 J/m² (tubers of the blue yam, Brunoniella australis). Similarly, stiffness of the wild foods ranged from 1.15 MPa for Descolea sp. to 30.4 MPa for B. australis. However, the mechanical demands of accessing the kernels from within the shells (testae) of sandalwood and quandong (Santalum spp.) seeds far exceed measurements of any foods tested. We also tested some farmed foods, alongside inclusion of data from previous studies. Taken together, these data can also improve selection of comparable foods in designing diets for potoroids, and other species, in captivity.

Keywords: captive management, conservation, diet, elastic modulus, fracture toughness, habitat use, mastication, Potoroidae.

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