Life-History of the Little Pygmy-Possum, Cercartetus-Lepidus (Marsupialia, Burramyidae), in the Big Desert, Victoria

Abstract

Populations of Cercartetus lepidus on mainland Australia are found in heathy open-scrub and wood-land, habitats more xeric than those they occupy in Tasmania. Births of mainland C. lepidus occur throughout the year, rather than just in spring and summer, as occurs in Tasmania. Cercartetus lepidus is omnivorous, feeding on insects, and nectar and pollen, which they derive from a variety of plant species, switching onto plant species as they flower. Their food resources, particularly flowering plants, are spatially and temporally heterogeneous and, in response to this, individuals may be relatively mobile.