
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lentle, R. G. 
A1  - Stafford, K. J. 
A1  - Potter, M. A. 
A1  - Springett, B. P. 
A1  - Haslett, S. 
T1  - The temporal character of feeding behaviour in captive tammar wallabies (<emph type="2">Macropus eugenii</emph> Desmarest)
JF  - Australian Journal of Zoology
JO  - Aust. J. Zool.
Y1  - 1999
VL  - 46
IS  - 6
SP  - 579
EP  - 600
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO98027 
N2  - Four tammar wallabies, maintained in a fixed 12 : 12 light : dark cycle, were fed ad libitum, one of three foods, of differing nutrient density and fibre content, consecutively, each for a period of two weeks. During the second week, food consumption was assessed daily and the temporal feeding pattern was monitored by visible and infrared video recording. Apart from a short rest period around noon, feeding continued throughout the 24-hour cycle, peaking crepuscularly. Total daily feeding time corrected to metabolic body weight was significantly longer, but dry-matter intake corrected to metabolic body weight was significantly lower than that of larger macropod species, indicating greater investment in chewing. Feed-event duration, inter-feed-event interval, rate of feeding, and dry matter intake all increased significantly on pelleted foods of low nutritional density. Rate of feeding and feed-event duration increased significantly on diced carrot such that dry-matter intake was not significantly different to that on high-quality pelleted food. Survivorship curves of inter-feed-event intervals were predominantly linear. This and the consistently higher positive correlations between the duration of individual feed events and inter-feed-event intervals than between meals and inter-meal intervals, indicated a nibbling rather than a meal-based feeding strategy. Levels of correlation of feed-event duration with inter-feed-event interval were generally low but there was a significant increase in positive correlation when food of lower quality was given. The duration of successive feed events tended to increase on low-quality and decrease on high-quality food more consistently than did successive inter-feed-event intervals. 
ER  -

