The barred bandicoot is a small marsupial, locally common on the island of Tasmania, Australia. Several marsupial species have been shown to respond to injections of prostaglandin F 2α or oxytocin by demonstrating birth behavior but that if an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis was given prior to oxytocin, no birth behavior was demonstrated. The barred bandicoot has behaved in a similar manner, demonstrating a significant increase in grooming and three other behaviors (crouching/prone, lateral and 'birth') were only seen after injection of PGF 2α or oxytocin. The fact that after injection of oxytocin there was an increase in the latency till a birth response confirms a previous finding in another species. Subsequently, we have repeated these experiments with other marsupial groups, with similar results, which suggest that prostaglandin F 2α stimulates birth behavior and oxytocin stimulates prostaglandin production in most marsupials. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Agricultural biotechnology
Research Field:	Agricultural molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
UTAS Author:	Smith, T (Mrs Tracey Walls)
UTAS Author:	MacFadyen, AS (Mr Alan Stewart MacFadyen)
UTAS Author:	Rose, RW (Associate Professor Randy Rose)
ID Code:	21920
Year Published:	2001
Web of Science® Times Cited:	8
Deposited By:	Zoology
Deposited On:	2001-08-01
Last Modified:	2013-08-21
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