ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4391-0165
Current Organisation
University of New England
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1071/ZO12066
Abstract: Parental care is central to the differences in reproductive behaviour and energy expenditure between males and females, and it is therefore crucial for understanding animal mating systems. We investigated post-gestation maternal care in a wild population of short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) in the Tasmanian midlands using a combination of external temperature loggers and motion-triggered infrared cameras. For the first few weeks of early lactation mothers do not leave their nursery burrow, which they keep at a stable and warm temperature, resulting in a greater rate of maternal mass loss during the period of maternal burrow confinement than during hibernation. However, after lactating mothers recommence feeding, they raise a young to ~1.5 kg on a diet of their milk while increasing their own body mass by a similar amount. Weaning in our population appears not to be abrupt as there is a period where young echidnas begin exploratory foraging while their mother is still lactating. After young are weaned and abandon the nursery burrow, there appear to be no further associations between mothers and young despite young echidnas remaining within their mother’s home range for the first 12 months of their life. Female echidnas time reproductive events with increases in ecosystem productivity, so that young are weaned at a time of maximum food abundance.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-06-2009
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1071/ZO09033
Abstract: We used three different methods, size-selected genomic library, cross-species lification of a mammal-wide set of conserved microsatellites and genomic sequencing, to develop a panel of 43 microsatellite loci for the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). These loci were screened against 13 in iduals from three different regions (Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, Perth region), spanning the breadth of the range of the short-beaked echidna. Nine of the 43 tested loci lified reliably, generated clear peaks on the electropherogram and were polymorphic, with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to eight (mean = 3.78) in the in iduals tested. Polymorphic information content ranged from 0.16 to 0.78, and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.19 to 0.84. One of the nine microsatellites showed a heterozygote deficit, suggesting a high probability of null alleles. The genomic sequencing approach using data derived from the Roche FLX platform is likely to provide the most promising method to develop echidna microsatellites. The microsatellite markers developed here will be useful tools to study population genetic structure, gene flow, kinship and parentage in Tachyglossus sp. and potentially also in endangered Zaglossus species.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 16-02-2011
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.1071/ZO09037
Abstract: The short-beaked echidna is the most widely distributed endemic Australian mammal, and echidnas from different geographic areas differ so much in appearance that they have been assigned to several subspecies. In this paper, we present data obtained from free-ranging echidnas in southern Tasmania, and compare this with studies from other parts of Australia. In Tasmania mating occurs between early June and mid-September, and throughout Australia the normal breeding season lies within these limits. In echidnas from the more easterly parts of Australia reproduction closely follows hibernation, with Tasmanian echidnas showing a significant overlap between hibernation and reproduction. There is intense competition between males, and female echidnas from Tasmania show multiple matings. There are significant differences between echidnas from different areas of Australia in the use of nursery burrows and maternal care. One of the most dramatic differences is in duration of lactation: echidnas from Kangaroo Island wean the young at 204–210 days, but in Tasmania weaning occurs at 139–152 days, even though the masses of the young at weaning are comparable.
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Date: 2012
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-03-2016
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/AM18005
Abstract: We present data from an 18-year study of a wild population of Tasmanian echidnas, which show that the presence of spurs in an adult are a reliable indicator of sex, and that there is a slight but significant sexual dimorphism in size, with a male to female mass ratio of 1.1. Minimum age at first breeding in the wild for Tasmanian echidnas was 5 years, as has been found on Kangaroo Island, compared with 3 years in captive echidnas. It is often assumed that although the echidna is distributed throughout Australia, New Guinea and off-shore islands that all aspects of its basic biology are the same in all populations, but comparisons of our results with data from other populations suggest that there may be differences in size and sexual dimorphism.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.YGCEN.2015.11.006
Abstract: We studied the interaction between torpor and reproduction in free-ranging female Tasmanian echidnas using a combination of techniques including urogenital smears, hormone analysis, ultrasonography, external temperature loggers and camera traps. Male echidnas initiated mating activity by locating hibernating females. All females that mated or were disturbed by males prior to July 27 re-entered hibernation, including many that were pregnant. Pregnant females only entered hibernation in early pregnancy when plasma progesterone concentrations were about twice basal and progesterone then remained constant during torpor. By re-entering hibernation pregnant females extended their gestation period and delayed egg-laying. Progesterone peaked 4-6days before egg-laying, then dropped rapidly.
No related grants have been discovered for Gemma Morrow.