Brown Antechinus
The brown antechinus is a small, carnivorous marsupial varying in weight from 30 – 60 grams. They are mostly nocturnal, hunting at night for small invertebrates like centipedes, crickets and larger animals like birds and reptiles. They spend their days in large communal nests in trees or in logs on the ground.
The life span of all males is about 11 months. They have a short breeding cycle of about 2 weeks in winter after which the males die. Gestation period for the young is 4 weeks followed by up to 50 days buttoned onto teats in the pouch. At this stage they are undeveloped, naked wormlike creatures. Unlike many marsupials the pouch is an open slit found on the belly of the animal. After leaving the pouch the animals may spend up to three months in the nest. By January or February they are independent.
The brown antechinus consists of two subspecies. A northern one found in north Queensland and a southern one found from southern NSW to southern Queensland. It appears that breeding occurs later in Queensland than it does in the Sydney region. Females may have a variation in teat number. In the Monga Forest study there were two possibilities – 8 teats or 10 teats.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Australian Journal of Zoology, A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia: Menkhorst and Knight
