| trophic cascades following the disease-induced decline of an apex predator, the tasmanian devil. | as apex predators disappear worldwide, there is escalating evidence of their importance in maintaining the integrity and diversity of the ecosystems they inhabit. the largest extant marsupial carnivore, the tasmanian devil (sarcophilus harrisii) is threatened with extinction from a transmissible cancer, devil facial tumor disease (dftd). the disease, first observed in 1996, has led to apparent population declines in excess of 95% in some areas and has spread to more than 80% of their range. we a ... | 2014 | 24024987 |
| body temperatures and activity patterns of tasmanian devils (sarcophilus harrisii) and eastern quolls (dasyurus viverrinus) through a subalpine winter. | during a field study of carnivorous dasyurid marsupials in subalpine tasmania, the trapping success for tasmanian devils (sarcophilus harrisii), but not for spotted-tailed quolls (dasyurus maculatus) or eastern quolls (dasyurus viverrinus), was significantly lower when winter weather conditions turned to sleet or snow or when deep snow lay on the ground. this field study was instigated to determine if devils and eastern quolls spend more time in burrows in severe weather conditions and if they e ... | 2008 | 9231376 |
| seasonal variation of plasma testosterone in a wild population of male eastern quoll, dasyurus viverrinus (marsupialia: dasyuridae), from tasmania. | in the wild, male eastern quoll, dasyurus viverrinus, exhibit a synchronized sequence of increase and decrease in plasma testosterone concentration, body weight, and scrotal size in response to the breeding season. basal concentrations of peripheral testosterone between 0.5 and 0.7 ng/ml circulate during the nonbreeding period. by april, 2 months prior to breeding, testosterone concentrations increased to around 1.6 ng/ml. this increase may reflect a resurgence in testicular activity, as scrotal ... | 1986 | 3557082 |