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Wayne Cherry | all galleries >> Bushwalking >> Langford Gap, Falls Creek to Mountain Creek, Mount Beauty - 2008 03 21 to 23 > A loss of life
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21-MAR-2008 Wayne Cherry

A loss of life

I think that this is what the photo is of.

Description
The Agile Antechinus is a small carnivorous marsupial of the Dasyurid family. It is greyish brown above and pale below. It has hairy thin tail. It is very similar to the Brown Antechinus (Antechinus stuartii), and used to be considered to be the same species.

Size
head and body 8-14cm. Tail 9cm

Environment
Forests in the southeastern corner of Australia. Prefers areas with dense ground cover and hiding places such as fallen logs.

Food
insects, spiders and other small invertebrates

Breeding
6-8 young are born after one month gestation. The female has no pouch, and when mum moves, the young are dragged along the ground attached to the nipples. After about 5 weeks the young are left in a nest in a hollow rock or crack in rock while mother feeds. Some females have 6 nipples and some have 8 - this determines the maximum number of young that can survive.

Range
south east Queensland to Victoria

Notes
All the Antichinus males die just before they reach a year old at the end of the annual mating season.



Classification
Class: Mammalia
Order: Dasyuromorphia
Family: Dasyuridae
Genus: Antechinus
Species: agilis
Common Name: Agile Antechinus

Olympus E-500
1/100s f/6.3 at 45.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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