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Australian Journal of Zoology Australian Journal of Zoology Society
Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Field Metabolic-Rate and Food Requirement of a Small Dasyurid Marsupial, Sminthopsis-Crassicaudata

KA Nagy, AK Lee, RW Martin and MR Fleming

Australian Journal of Zoology 36(3) 293 - 299
Published: 1988

Abstract

Field metabolic rates (FMRs) and rates of water flux in free-ranging fat-tailed dunnarts, Sminthopsis crassicaudata, were measured during spring (late October) using doubly labelled water. Feeding rates were estimated on the basis of water and energy fluxes. FMRs averaged 68.7 kJ d-' in adults (mean body mass= 16.6 g), and were 29.2 kJ d-' in juveniles (6.1 g). These FMRs are 6.6 times basal metabolic rate (BMR), and are much higher than the hypothetical maxima of four to five times BMR. Other dasyurid marsupials also have high FMR/BMR ratios, but so does a small petaurid marsupial. S. crassicaudata consumed 80-90% of its body mass in arthropods each day. The diet of arthropods apparently provided enough water for the animals to maintain water balance without drinking during this study.

https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO9880293

© CSIRO 1988

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