Nutrition and Feeding Strategies
Edited book (chapter)
Chapter Title | Nutrition and Feeding Strategies |
---|---|
Book Chapter Category | Edited book (chapter) |
ERA Publisher ID | 2797 |
Book Title | Marsupials and Monotremes: Nature’s Enigmatic Mammals |
Authors | Klieve, Athol V. (Author), O'Hara, Patricia (Author) and Murray, Peter J. (Author) |
Editors | Klieve, Athol, Hogan, Lindsay, Johnston, Stephen and Murray, Peter |
Page Range | 229-260 |
Chapter Number | 6 |
Number of Pages | 32 |
Year | 2015 |
Publisher | Nova Science Publishers |
Place of Publication | New York, United States |
ISBN | 9781634829731 |
Web Address (URL) | https://novapublishers.com/shop/marsupials-and-monotremes-natures-enigmatic-mammals/ |
Abstract | The monotremes and marsupials have developed an impressive array of divergent feeding and nutritive systems. The extant monotreme species are largely invertebrate feeders and they differ from other mammals by having an elaborate electroreception system, particularly well developed in the platypus, for the detection of prey. The other characteristic that is unusual is the lack of a gastric stomach. Marsupials include both carnivores and herbivores, with some opportunist 'carnivores' also consuming significant plant materials to classify as omnivores. The extant carnivores tend to be small (< 2 kg), with larger species being extinct. The smallest species are primarily insectivorous and as size increases the proportion of vertebrates in the diet increases. The marsupial herbivores comprise large grazing animals such as kangaroos and wombats to tiny nectar feeding possums. Koalas and the fungi feeding rat-kangaroos have also evolved to be dietary specialists feeding on eucalypt leaves and subterranean fungi respectively. Microbial fermentation of fibrous plant matter takes place in an enlarged forestomach (macropods) or in the lower gastrointestinal tract. The microbes that inhabit the gut are not at all well understood and have only been studied in a few marsupial species. The reductively acetogenic microbial community present in macropods limits methane production from these forestomach fermenting herbivores, as compared to domestic livestock, and this characteristic has implications for reducing green-house gas omissions. |
Keywords | carnivore, herbivore, gastrointestinal tract, microbiome |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 310911. Animal structure and function |
310910. Animal physiology - systems | |
310904. Animal diet and nutrition | |
310901. Animal behaviour | |
310912. Comparative physiology | |
Public Notes | There are no files associated with this item. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Queensland |
Journal Title | Marsupials and Monotremes: Nature's Enigmatic Mammals |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q637q/nutrition-and-feeding-strategies
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