Faecal particle size and tooth wear of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

被引：1

作者：

Ellis, William ^{[1
,2
]}

Attard, Rachael ^{[3
]}

Johnston, Stephen ^{[2
]}

Theileman, Peter ^{[4
]}

McKinnon, Allan ^{[4
]}

Booth, David ^{[3
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Queensland, Sustainable Minerals Inst, Ctr Mined Land Rehabil, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia

[2] Univ Queensland, Sch Agr & Food Sci, Wildlife Biol Unit, Gatton, Qld 4343, Australia

[3] Univ Queensland, Sch Biol Sci, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia

[4] Moggill Koala Hosp, Queensland Dept Environm & Heritage Protect, Moggill, Qld 4070, Australia

来源：

AUSTRALIAN MAMMALOGY | 2014年 / 36卷 / 01期

关键词：

faecal pellets; population age structure; tooth wear; HABITAT USE; QUEENSLAND; GOLDFUSS; CONSEQUENCES; PATTERNS; BEHAVIOR; SHIRE;

D O I：

10.1071/AM13033

中图分类号：

Q95 [动物学];

学科分类号：

071002 ;

摘要：

We used computer-aided image analysis of leaf fragment particles found in faecal pellets of 45 koalas, representing the range of tooth wear in this species, to investigate how tooth wear in the koala influences faecal particle sizes. Although the range of sizes of particles produced did not vary between koalas across different tooth wear classes, with all koalas producing small, medium and large particles, koalas with advanced tooth wear produced a greater proportion of larger particles. This observation may prove useful for demographic population analyses based on scat surveys since the broad age class of individual koalas can be estimated from faecal pellet analysis. Older koalas produced faecal pellets containing a higher proportion of the largest-sized particle sizes (those greater than 0.59 mm(2)) than either young or mature koalas but there was no difference detected between mature and young koalas.

引用

页码：90 / 94

页数：5