| Black-tailed antechinus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Marsupialia |
| Order: | Dasyuromorphia |
| Family: | Dasyuridae |
| Genus: | Antechinus |
| Species: | A. arktos |
| Binomial name | |
| Antechinus arktos Baker et al, 2014 | |
Antechinus arktos, the black-tailed antechinus, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. [1]
The black-tailed antechinus was first described in 2014 by Baker and others and is one of the most recently described marsupials.
It had previously been described as Antechinus swainsonii mimetes, a subspecies of the Dusky antechinus. [2]
A member of the dasyurid family, the Black-Tailed antechinus is a member of the genus Antechinus , of which it is thought to be one of the most restricted members, located only at high altitudes in far north-eastern New south Wales and the adjoining ranges in south-eastern Queensland.
Dr. Andrew Baker from the Queensland University of Technology reports: "The tail emerges from a body that is very shaggy, very hairy, with really long guard hairs. On the rump of the animal it becomes almost an orangey-brown colour, but where the tail emerges from the rump there is quite a distinct change from orange rump to black tail. It's a very short-furred tail and they have black feet as well."
The species has so far only been found in high-altitude, wet areas in the Springbrook National Park between northern New South Wales and the Gold Coast Hinterland. Dr. Andrew Baker from the Queensland University of Technology reports that, though the species is already endangered, "it seems that the species may now be restricted to the highest parts of the Tweed Volcano Caldera, such as the upper parts of Springbrook where [they] successfully captured the species in May 2013. The most likely explanation for such a contraction is climate change."
Dr. Diana Fisher from the University of Queensland reported in a study published last year in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that:
. . . the animals were actually over-doing it in order to promote their own genes over their competitors' genes, and trying so hard to reproduce that their bodies shut down. "What they do is just competitively mate, so they mate for a very long time, like 12 to 14 hours, some of the species," she said. "They do it over and over and over - they're very promiscuous. There's this huge intense mating season going on for about two weeks."
Dr Fisher says the males experience an escalation of stress hormones, which allows them to continue mating for a long time. But the researchers found the extreme rush of stress hormones also caused the animals' body tissues to "disintegrate".
"It's a bit distressing to see them die. Their fur falls off. They look very sick and stagger around, and sometimes they get gangrene infections because their immune system stops working." [3]
The Springbrook National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Gold Coast hinterland of Queensland, Australia. The 6,197-hectare (15,310-acre) park is situated on the McPherson Range, near Springbrook, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Brisbane. The park is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.
The Dasyuridae are a family of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea, including 69 extant species divided into 21 genera. Many are small and mouse-like or shrew-like, giving some of them the name marsupial mice or marsupial shrews, but the group also includes the cat-sized quolls, as well as the Tasmanian devil. They are found in a wide range of habitats, including grassland, underground, forests, and mountains, and some species are arboreal or semiaquatic. The Dasyuridae are often called the 'marsupial carnivores', as most members of the family are insectivores.
The tiger quoll, also known as the spotted-tail quoll, the spotted quoll, the spotted-tail dasyure, native cat or the tiger cat, is a carnivorous marsupial of the quoll genus Dasyurus native to Australia. With males and females weighing around 3.5 and 1.8 kg, respectively, it is the world's second largest extant carnivorous marsupial, behind the Tasmanian devil. Two subspecies are recognised; the nominate is found in wet forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania, and a northern subspecies, D. m. gracilis, is found in a small area of northern Queensland and is endangered.
Quolls are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that quolls evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around four million years ago. The six species vary in weight and size, from 300 g (11 oz) to 7 kg (15 lb). They have brown or black fur and pink noses. They are largely solitary, but come together for a few social interactions such as mating which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 pups, of which only six survive because she only has six teats with which to feed them. They have a life span from 2 to 4 years.
The little red kaluta, or simply kaluta,, is a species of carnivorous nocturnal marsupial. It lives in the arid regions of northwest Australia. Individuals are around 100 millimetres long and weigh from 20 to 40 grams. They live for about four years in captivity.
The yellow-footed antechinus, also known as the mardo, is a shrew-like marsupial found in Australia. One notable feature of the species is its sexual behavior. The male yellow-footed antechinus engages in such frenzied mating that its immune system becomes compromised, resulting in stress related death before it is one year old.
Antechinus is a genus of small dasyurid marsupial endemic to Australia. They resemble mice with the bristly fur of shrews.
The tribe Dasyurini includes several genera of small carnivorous marsupials native to Australia: quolls, kowari, mulgara, kaluta, dibblers, neophascogales, pseudantechinuses, and the Tasmanian devil.
The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. In 2021, the Scenic Rim was named as a Lonely Planet top destination for 2022.
The Alexandria false antechinus, also known as the Carpentarian false antechinus or Carpentarian pseudantechinus, is a small carnivorous marsupial, found only in a number of small, isolated localities in northern Australia. It is the smallest and rarest of the false antechinuses.
The subtropical antechinus is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was previously thought to be conspecific with the brown antechinus.
The Atherton antechinus, also known as Godman's antechinus, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is one of the rarest members of its genus, and differs from other antechinuses in its more rufous body colour and small eyes.
The brown antechinus, also known as Stuart's antechinus and Macleay's marsupial mouse, is a species of small carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. The males die after their first breeding season, and the species holds the world record for being the world's smallest semelparous mammal.
The dusky antechinus, also known as Swainson's antechinus or the dusky marsupial mouse, is a species of small marsupial carnivore, a member of the family Dasyuridae. It is found in Australia.
Black-tailed antechinus may refer to:
The Gold Coast hinterland is an area of South East Queensland, Australia that comprises the Tweed Range, Nimmel Range, Tamborine Mountain, Numinbah Valley, eastern parts of the McPherson Range and western parts of suburban Gold Coast, such as Mudgeeraba. This undefined unit of area is known for its tourist attractions including resorts, rainforest, lookouts, national parks, its diversity of fauna and flora and as a green backdrop to the coastal strip. It overlaps part of the Scenic Rim and is part of both the City of Gold Coast and Scenic Rim Region and includes Springbrook, Binna Burra and O'Reilly.
Springbrook is a rural town and locality in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Springbrook had a population of 659 people.
Numinbah Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve was gazetted in December 1981 with a further addition made in 1989 to make the reserve to its current area of 858 hectares. The reserve is situated north-east of the rural locality of Numinbah, and south of the Queensland town of Springbrook and defines part of the state border between New South Wales and Queensland.
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