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 ma...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, which is particularly well developed in the platypus, for the detection of prey. Another characteristic that is unusual is the lack of a gastric stomach. Marsupials include both and herbivores, with some opportunist carnivores also consuming significant plant materials to classify as omnivores. The extant tend to be small (< 20 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 range from large grazing animals such as kangaroos and wombats to tiny nectar feeding possums. Koalas and the 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 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.Read More
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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