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Œstrous Cycle, Gestation Period and Parturition in the Marsupial Trichosurus vulpecula

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Abstract

COLONIES of the brushtailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula Kerr., a marsupial, have been kept in Sydney since May 1954 and in Adelaide since January 1957. Breeding seasons were studied, in both places, in the local wild populations from which the captive animals were derived. Breeding in the Sydney colony began in June 1955 and in the Adelaide colony in March 1957. To date 46 specimens (including 16 second-generation young) have been born in captivity. Only one young is normally reared each year in the wild in the Sydney area, but it seems that many wild females in the Adelaide area rear two young each year.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Animal Health and Production, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Sheep Biology Laboratory, Prospect, New South Wales

    A. G. LYNE

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Adelaide,

    PHYLLIS E. PILTON & G. B. SHARMAN

Authors
  1. A. G. LYNE
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  2. PHYLLIS E. PILTON
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  3. G. B. SHARMAN
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LYNE, A., PILTON, P. & SHARMAN, G. Œstrous Cycle, Gestation Period and Parturition in the Marsupial Trichosurus vulpecula . Nature 183, 622–623 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/183622b0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/183622b0

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