Antechinus bellus
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2015
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Dasyuromorphia
Dasyuridae
Antechinus
Antechinus bellus

description: 30.
Fawn Antechinus
Antechinus bellus
French: Antéchinus fauve / German: Augenfleck-BreitfuRbeutelmaus / Spanish: Antequino beis
Other common names: Fawn Marsupial Mouse
Taxonomy. Phascogale bella Thomas, 1904,
South Alligator River, Northern Territory, Australia.
For a remarkably morphologically distinct species, A. bellus was described relatively late in antechinus history. It was collected long before its description in 1904 based on one of a number of specimens taken by J. T. Tunney in 1903 near the South Alligator River. Most likely, J. Gilbert collected the first specimens of A. bellus from Port Essington in the Northern Territory around 1840, and in 1904 O. Thomaslisted it under Phascogaleflavipes var. leucogaster. G. H. H. Tate was struck by the highly derived nature of A. bellus “...the most divergent ofall the groups now assigned to Antechinus,” and designated it to one of the four “principal species” groups he created for the genus. Yet today, Tate’s construct of the genus is virtually unrecognizable; in addition to the inclusion of five new species since 1980, the diverse New Guinea component of his “ flavipes group” has been reassigned to various endemic genera (subsequently collapsed tojust one, Murexia), and the “ Antechinus maculatus group” has been assigned to Planigale. Genetically, mtDNA and nDNA clearly distinguish A. bellus from all congeners, phylogenetically positioning it as sister to Queensland’s A. leo, with which it shares a curled supratragus of the external ear and a similar tropicallatitudinal distribution. Monotypic.
Distribution. N Australia, Top End of Northern Territory and including Tiwi Is.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 11:3-14.8 cm (males) and 9:6-12 cm (females), tail 10.3-13.2 cm (males) and 9.1-11 cm (females); weight 36-83 g (males) and 25-39 g (females). There is marked sexual dimorphism for size. The Fawn Antechinus is the palest member of the genus, being pale to medium gray above, sometimes with a fawn or pale brownish tinge. Chin and upper surfaces of hands and feet are white. No other species of antechinus has a combination of pale upper body fur and white hands and feet; the Agile Antechinus (A. agilis) is similar to the Fawn Antechinus in fur color, but the Agile Antechinus tends to be brownish-gray from head to rump and on upper surfaces of hands and feet; the Agile Antechinus is also notably lighter in body weight and smaller than the Fawn Antechinus. The Silver-headed Antechinus (A. argentus) has a pale silvery head, neck, shoulders,feet, and tail base, but its color merges to a deep grayish-olive rump. Supratragus (upper part of ear pinna) of the Fawn Antechinus serves to clearly distinguish it from all other Australian antechinuses (except the Cinnamon Antechinus, A. leo, and the Atherton Antechinus, A. godmani). In the Fawn Antechinus, supratragus is distally thickened and twisted rather than simple and uncurled.
Habitat. Woodland dominated by Eucalyptus spp. (Myrtaceae). Many of the trees in this forest type have hollow trunks and limbs as a result of termite attacks. Much of the habitat where the Fawn Antechinus occurs is burned during the dry season, and unsurprisingly it tends to occur in areas where there are less intense or less frequent fires. Such habitat patches are characterized by denser leafy midstory and understory, and they can contain a relatively high proportion of monsoon rainforest-associated species. One study site at Kapalga in the Northern Territory was dominated by Fucalyptus tetrodonta and E. miniata, with a dense understory of smaller trees and shrubs, which included Buchanania obovata (Anacardiaceae), Planchonia careya (Lecythidaceae), Petalostigma pubescens (Picrodendraceae), and Acacia mimula (Fabaceae). This area experienced a monsoonal climate where 91% of mean annual rainfall (1388 mm) fell during the humid wet season in November-March. High temperatures varied between a mean minimum of 18°C in July and a mean maximum of 37-2°C in October. At Oenpelli, mean maxima and minima for the hottest month, November, were 31-7°C and 23-4°C, respectively, and those for the coldest month, July, were 31-5°C and 17-8°C. This habitat was dominated by a deeply dissected and massive sandstone plateau rising 50-250 m from an undulating eroded plain, vegetated with Fucalyptusdominated open forest and woodland with a grassy or shrubby understory. At Port Essington and Port Bremer, the Fawn Antechinus occupied tropical eucalypt savanna with a variable sparse-dense grass cover up to 1-6 m high; on the Cobourg Peninsula, their woodland habitat was dominated by E. tetrodonta and E. miniata.
Food and Feeding. A few stomachs of Fawn Antechinuses have been analyzed, and they contained only insect remains. Nevertheless, the Fawn Antechinuses have been observed eating small geckoes, especially around houses and campground buildings.
Breeding. Breeding of the Fawn Antechinus is characteristic of congeners, with males dying at the end of a vigorous mating period that lasts only a couple of weeks. When sexually active, males exhibit a sternal gland, which is usually free of hair. This gland stains the surrounding hair yellowish-brown. Testes of males contain sperm in June-August; all mating occurs in the last two weeks of August. Gestation is a month or slightly more in duration, and thus pregnant females give birth from the end of September into early October. There are ten nipples, and young often occupy all of them. As many as 16 embryos have been found in pregnant females; thus, there is a loss of young at, or prior to, birth. An excess production of young has been found in other antechinuses (and indeed dasyurids more broadly); in such cases, after all the mother’s teats are occupied, any unattached young perish. While young are suckled, and for some time afterward, fur around the pouch area is stained pink, making reproductively active females easy to identify. Young remain attached to nipples for 4-5 weeks; after that, they are suckled in a nest until weaning, which occurs in earlyJanuary.
Activity patterns. The Fawn Antechinus is active at night, dawn, and dusk. It can be observed in low light either foraging on the ground or scampering up and down tree trunks. During the day, the Fawn Antechinus shelters in tree or fallen log hollows. Tree hideaways can be accessed either via entrances at the tree base or from hollows in the trunk more than 10 m above the ground.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Little is known about the social behavior of the Fawn Antechinus. Its movements are quick and erratic, and it often utters a “zitt” sound, particularly when in the presence of conspecifics.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Fawn Antechinus was long regarded as rare, but more intensive research in the last 15 years has revealed that it can be locally common. It regularly visits camping grounds and houses in some parts of its distribution.
Bibliography. Baker & Van Dyck (2013a), Calaby & Taylor (1981), Friend, G.R. (1985), Story, Galloway et al. (1976), Story, Williams et al. (1969), Tate (1947), Taylor & Horner (1970), Thomas (1904), Van Dyck (2002), Watson & Calaby (2008), Woolley (1981).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier & Don E. Wilson, 2015, Dasyuridae, pp. 232-348 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 5 Monotremes and Marsupials, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 311-312, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6608102