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The life history of an egg-laying mammal, the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)
Citation
Nicol, SC and Andersen, NA, The life history of an egg-laying mammal, the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), Ecoscience, 14, (3) pp. 275-285. ISSN 1195-6860 (2007) [Refereed Article]
DOI: doi:10.2980/1195-6860(2007)14[275:TLHOAE]2.0.CO;2
Abstract
Echidnas have a low metabolic rate, and energy expenditure is reduced even further by the use of torpor and hibernation. Thus, echidnas appear to lie at the slow extreme of the fast-slow continuum, and this is reflected in many aspects of echidna life history: a long life, a long lactation period, and a single young that matures late. Reproductive activity occurs in mid-winter, shortly after arousal from hibernation. After a pregnancy of about 3 weeks the female lays a single egg into her pouch that hatches after 10-11 d. Initially, the young is incubated in the pouch. Later, it is left in the nursery burrow while the mother forages for ants, termites, and other invertebrates. Lactation lasts for 150-200 d, the duration differing significantly between geographic regions. Growth rates during late lactation are very high, and, when weaned, the young has reached about 40% of adult mass. The young loses mass before entering its first hibernation, which extends from early autumn to late spring. The young echidna reaches adult mass after about 3-5 years.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Population ecology |
Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences |
UTAS Author: | Nicol, SC (Associate Professor Stewart Nicol) |
UTAS Author: | Andersen, NA (Dr Niels Andersen) |
ID Code: | 49445 |
Year Published: | 2007 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 25 |
Deposited By: | Zoology |
Deposited On: | 2007-08-01 |
Last Modified: | 2009-09-24 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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