
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Soderquist, TR 
T1  - Maternal Strategies of Phascogale-Tapoatafa (Marsupialia, Dasyuridae) .2. Juvenile Thermoregulation and Maternal Attendance
JF  - Australian Journal of Zoology
JO  - Aust. J. Zool.
Y1  - 1993
VL  - 41
IS  - 6
SP  - 567
EP  - 576
KW  - 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO9930567 
N2  - When juvenile Phascogale tapoatafa first release the maternal teats and are left in the nursery nest (c. 48 days of age), they lack fur, weight about 4 g, and are poikilothermic. Thermoregulation of wild litters was measured using a temperature-sensitive radio-transmitter inserted into the huddled litter after the mother's departure at night. On cold nights (less-than-or-equal-to 10-degrees-C), juveniles lose heat rapidly in the absence of their mother, with litter temperatures declining to an average of 6-degrees-C in 4 h. Litter temperatures of 3-degrees-C were common. Maternal attendance (incubation) is frequent and of long duration during the early-nesting period, then decreases as juveniles acquire fur and develop endothermy. The mother contributes to litter thermoregulation and security by constructing a large nest of bark, feathers and fur in a tree cavity with a small entrance hole. 
ER  -

