Mycophagy by the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor)

Abstract

Microscopic analysis of the scats of swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolor), collected from a variety of forested sites in south-eastern mainland Australia, indicates that the species consumes a diversity of species of hypogeous (underground-fruiting) fungi. The mycophagous (fungus-feeding) dietary behaviour seemingly extends to habitats recently burned by fire, implying that W. bicolor may be critical in dispersing fungal spores and perhaps in re-establishing mycorrhizal associations of these fungi with forest trees and shrubs. Such an interrelationship has been previously demonstrated only for more heavily mycophagous species of ground-dwelling mammal.