Notes on the fungal diets of four Antechinus species from south-eastern Australia

Conor Nest; Todd F. Elliott; Karl Vernes

doi:10.1071/AM25001

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Next Contents Vol 47(2)

Notes on the fungal diets of four Antechinus species from south-eastern Australia

Conor Nest

^A ^* , Todd F. Elliott

^A and Karl Vernes

^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Ecosystem Management, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.

^B Natural History Museum, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: conor.nest77@gmail.com

Handling Editor: Ross Goldingay

Australian Mammalogy 47, AM25001 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM25001

Submitted: 6 January 2025 Accepted: 25 June 2025 Published: 8 July 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Mycophagy is widespread among Australian mammals but has been poorly studied among dasyurids, with only 7 of the 61 Australian species having been shown to disperse fungi. Using spirit collections at the Australian Museum, we analysed the faecal material of brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii), yellow-footed antechinus (A. flavipes), swamp antechinus (A. minimus) and mainland dusky antechinus (A. mimetes) collected from south-eastern Australia between 1970 and 2003. All species consumed fungi, with a total of 19 fungal taxa detected. This is the first published record of mycophagy by A. minimus and A. mimetes. We recommend that further research is undertaken on the fungal diets of dasyurids, as many species are likely performing important ecosystem functions through the consumption and dispersal of fungi.

Keywords: Dasyuridae, diet, fungal ecology, mammal ecology, marsupial, mycophagous, mycorrhizal, spore dispersal.

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